Most Western European countries such as France, Spain and Italy stopped vaccinating AstraZeneca due to a recent case of thrombosis in some people who received the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine from AstraZeneca (AZ) in the UK. The US CNN reported on the views of medical experts on the controversy over the AstraZeneca vaccine that took place on the 17th (local time).
On March 14, AstraZeneca said in a statement, “A review of all data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and the UK due to concerns that thrombosis has occurred recently revealed that pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and thrombocytopenia There is no evidence of an increased risk of the disease.”
“We have no idea in which country the AstraZeneca vaccine should be stopped,” said Michael Head, senior researcher at Global Health at the University of Southampton. He added that from a scientific point of view, the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, so it is not a good idea to stop vaccination. AstraZeneca vaccination has been virtually stopped across Western Europe, and countries have said they will stop vaccination until the results of an investigation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are available.
The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) recommended that all adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccination continue to be vaccinated. In addition, “the reported thrombosis associated with millions of COVID-19 vaccinations does not suggest a direct association with the vaccine, and the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the risk of potential complications for patients with a history of thrombosis or taking blood thinners.” He said in a statement.
John Gibbins, director of the Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research Institute at the University of Reading, predicted that “the number of reported thrombosis-related cases is insignificant and future cases will be fewer than expected.” He explained that blood clots and thrombosis occur for a variety of reasons, and venous blood clots are common enough to affect one to two in 1,000 people, and the risk of developing them increases with age, and that there is an additional risk if there is an underlying disease. However, he said it is worth paying more attention to the cases of thrombosis reported in Germany.
This thrombosis reported in Germany is Cerebral Sinus Vein Thrombosis (CVST), a disease that occurs in 5 out of 1 million thrombosis patients, and is a very rare type of thrombosis. Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Englia also agreed that the link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and cerebral sinus thrombosis needs to be investigated, but stressed that the probability of dying from COVID-19 is higher than that of CVST.
Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will announce the results of the investigation on thrombosis on the 18th (local time).