The director of EMA pointed out that it is not yet clear what the connection is and whether the risks outweigh the benefits.
Rome-A senior European official announced that there is a causal link between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and rare cases of thrombosis, but he added that the link is still unclear and the benefits of vaccination far outweigh Covid- 19 risks.
Marco Cavaleri, Director of the Department of Health Threats and Vaccination Strategies of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in an interview published on Tuesday in the newspaper Il Messaggero in Rome that the agency is preparing to deal with the matter this week. Make a clearer statement.
When asked about Cavalieri’s remarks, the EMA Press Office stated that its assessment “has not yet reached a conclusion and the review is ongoing.” He added that he plans to hold a press conference immediately after the review is completed, possibly on Wednesday or Thursday.
Cavalieri said that based on the evidence so far, there is a clear link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and dozens of rare thrombosis cases reported in tens of millions of vaccines worldwide.
Cavalieri said: “It is increasingly difficult to say that there is no causal relationship between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the very few cases of thrombosis associated with low platelets,”
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, in the evening, pharmaceutical companies and the University of Oxford, which developed vaccines, announced that they would suspend testing of vaccines for children, while British regulators are investigating possible links with adult thrombosis.
An Oxford spokesperson said in a statement: “Although there are no safety considerations in pediatric clinical trials, we are waiting for more information from the UK regulator.”
The World Health Organization said in Geneva that its experts are also evaluating the possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare thrombosis, and may conduct a “new conclusive evaluation” by Thursday.
A dozen countries, including Germany, suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine last month due to thrombosis. After EMA said that the benefits of vaccines outweighed the risks of not being vaccinated, most EU countries resumed vaccination on March 19-some vaccines have age restrictions. At the time, the agency recommended updating the vaccine manual with information about blood clots.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is the core of the European immunization campaign and an important part of the global dosing strategy for poor countries.
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