Yesterday, regulators in the UK reluctantly acknowledged – or so it seemed, anyway – 25 new cases of rare blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine. Several of the individuals had died due to the complications. 5 earlier cases had been deemed not serious, but now it appears people are dying in the country that probably has the most to lose if the AstraZeneca jab were to be found defective.
After all, a massive share of Britons who have been inoculated so far were inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was approved for emergency use in the UK late last year, though regulators in the US are only just now starting the process of assessing its efficacy according to the trial data, and its risks.
Despite finally revealing that 7 Britons have died due to side-effects brought on by the vaccine, Britain’s medicines regulator on Saturday announced that the vaccine is “safe” and that it’s not clear whether the shots are causing the clots (though researchers in Germany and elsewhere appear to have found evidence of a link). Here’s more from the AP:
In total, MHRA said had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events out of 18.1 million AstraZeneca doses administered up to and including March 24. The risk associated with this type of blood clot is “very small,” it added.
“The benefits of COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca in preventing COVID-19 infection and its complications continue to outweigh any risks and the public should continue to get their vaccine when invited to do so,” said Dr. June Raine, the agency’s chief executive.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands yesterday became the latest developed nation to halt administration of the vaccine. Initially, the Dutch government (where PM Mark Rutte is facing a worsening political crisis) planned to restrict vaccinations to people under the age of 60, like Germany opted to do. But they decided to simply halt vaccinations to avoid potential waste of precious vaccines. According to Reuters, Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said the temporary halt is “a precautionary measure,” echoing language used by virtually every European leader who has restricted access to the AstraZeneca jab, which has long been an object of suspicion following unusual complications that emerged during the trials, and led to brief halts in the UK, US and elsewhere.- READ MORE
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