Denmark suspends final form of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID, health authorities reported Wednesday. Is he first country to leave completely the drug made by the pharmacist and the University of Oxford.
Despite the opinion of the European regulator and the WHO in favor of its use, “the vaccination campaign in Denmark.” continues without AstraZeneca vaccineNational Health Agency director Søren Brostrøm said at a press conference.
This finding comes after Copenhagen decided to discontinue its use for five weeks, following the occurrence of unusual cases of thrombosis in several European countries. This Thursday, the three-week period proclaimed at the end of March for cmove on to unusual case studies
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks. Photo: AP
Tanja Erichsen, a senior official at the Danish Medicines Agency, said the authorities “agree” with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that the vaccine is “effective”, but reiterated that, due to the epidemiological situation in Denmark, it is “better” to stop using the vaccine.
The approximately 150,000 people who have received one dose of that vaccine will be offered another for their second dose, according to authorities.
The suspension of AstraZeneca, from which Denmark has purchased 2.4 million doses, will lead to one delay of several weeks in the vaccination schedule of this Nordic country, which planned to vaccinate its entire population at the end of July.
Denmark was the first to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca on March 11, a decision that was later followed by most European countries, although they resumed the process when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) assured that there was no evidence of a direct relationship with detected cases of thrombosis.
However, some countries have reserved its use for people over 60, such as Germany and Sweden, while Norway will announce in a few days what decision it will make on the vaccine, which has also been suspended for a month.
In its previous appearance, on March 25, the Danish Medicines Agency argued the extension of the suspension because of the need to complete the study of several unusual cases, although he defended the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.
Denmark has registered a death with this clinical pictureincluding low platelet count, blood clots in the blood vessels and bleeding and a few cases of deaths with similar symptoms that had not yet been analyzed at the end of March.
With information from EFE