Denmark has become the first country to permanently discontinue use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine due to its possible link with very rare cases of blood clots.
The Danish health authority said on Wednesday that, following its own evaluation, the roll-out of vaccines in the country would continue without the AstraZeneca injection, warning of a “real risk of serious side effects.”
“Based on the scientific findings, our overall assessment is that there is a real risk of serious side effects associated with the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine,” said DHA Director General Søren Brostrøm. “We have therefore decided to remove the vaccine from our vaccination program,” he added.
The health agency said it agreed with the European drug regulator’s assessment that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, but noted that the watchdog was urging individual countries to consider their own situation and vaccine availability. take when making a judgment.
Brostrøm said the epidemic was currently under control in Denmark, with a large proportion of the elderly population being vaccinated and those yet to be vaccinated with less risk.
“We have to weigh this against the fact that we now have a known risk of serious adverse effects from vaccination with AstraZeneca, even if the risk is low in absolute terms,” he added.
Those who have already received the first dose of AstraZeneca AZN,
AZN,
will be invited to receive another vaccine for a second time, the health authority said.
Read: Moderna and Novavax added to ‘mix and match’ COVID-19 vaccine study
It added that Denmark could reintroduce the use of the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company’s vaccine at a later date if the country’s situation changes.
Last week, the UK government’s vaccination advisory committee said people under 30 would receive an alternative vaccine. It came after the UK drug regulatory agency – the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – said the benefits outweighed the risks for most people, but MHRA’s Chief Executive Dr. June Raine, said it was more “nicely balanced” for young people.
Denmark’s move is another setback in the EU’s already slow vaccination campaign, exacerbated on Tuesday after US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson JNJ,
said it would delay the planned rollout of its COVID-19 admission to the 27-member bloc due to reports of blood clotting.
Read: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Break: What You Should Know If You Got or Scheduled the Injection
J&J made the decision after US health authorities called for an immediate discontinuation of the vaccine while investigating six serious cases of rare blood clots reported in people who received the injection. J&J would deliver 55 million doses of its one-time vaccination to the EU in the second quarter.
The J&J vaccine is currently only on hold, but analytics company Airfinity warned that the rollout of the EU vaccination would take two months longer than expected if the block were unable to use the shot at all.
However, there was good news for Europe as the EU reached an agreement to accelerate the delivery of 50 million additional doses of the vaccine jointly developed by the German biotech BioNTech BNTX,
and the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer PFE,
to stimulate the rollout program.
Denmark’s decision could delay vaccine rollout in the country by up to four weeks, based on earlier statements from health authorities, a Reuters report said.
The country was the first country to initially discontinue use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in March due to safety concerns. Last week, the EU drug regulator said “unusual blood clots” should be listed as a “very rare” side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but stressed that the benefits of the injection still outweighed the risks.
Read: Vaccination problems in Europe continue as Spain and Italy stop using AstraZeneca injections for young people under 60
Most EU countries have since restarted using the AstraZeneca vaccine, but some countries, including Spain and Italy, have limited the use of the shot to people over 60 years old. Last month, French and German health officials restricted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people 55 and 60, respectively, after concerns about unusual blood clotting in some recipients.
AstraZeneca shares were up 1.31% higher in London on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca has acknowledged the EMA’s findings, as well as a separate review of the UK MHRA, noting that they “reaffirmed that the vaccine provides a high level of protection against all forms of COVID-19 and that these benefits still far outweigh these benefits against the risks. “
The pharmaceutical company said it was working with global regulators to better understand the individual cases, epidemiology and possible mechanisms that could explain these extremely rare events.