(Korea Global News-Reporter Park Ji-hyung) Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said today (19th) regarding the safety controversy of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine,’Considering the results of the verification by international organizations and the cases of adverse reactions confirmed so far, Astra is currently underway in Korea. I don’t think there is any reason to stop getting the Zeneca vaccine.’
Prime Minister Chung said in an emergency directive sent to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety that day, he reaffirmed the government’s policy and ordered the quarantine authorities to quickly clear up their stance on the AZ vaccine safety controversy, the Prime Minister’s office said.
Prime Minister Chung explained,’The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have announced the results of discussions with expert committees on the point that’AstraZeneca vaccination and blood clots are not related’.
For reference, the WHO said in an official statement on the 17th that thrombosis is a common disease irrespective of vaccination, and that the benefit of this vaccine outweighs the risk, and recommended that countries continue to be vaccinated.
EMA also held a safety committee on the 18th and concluded that the vaccine was not associated with an increased overall risk of blood clots.
Prime Minister Chung emphasized,’However, given the situation that the AstraZeneca vaccine needs to be expanded continuously, the public should not have any doubts or anxiety about the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine.’
Subsequently,’The Agency for Disease Control and Prevention’ instructed to promptly convene a vaccination expert committee to review the recent evaluation data from WHO, EMA, and domestic adverse reaction cases together with experts to clarify the position.’
In addition, he requested,’The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which is in charge of supervising the safety of drugs, conducts a professional and scientific evaluation of the possibility of causing blood clots of the AstraZeneca vaccine and discloses the results transparently.’
Article provided: Policy briefing