{"id":203834,"date":"2021-03-16T23:39:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T20:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/astrazeneca-vaccines-why-are-some-countries-suspending-its-use\/"},"modified":"2021-03-16T23:39:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T20:39:33","slug":"astrazeneca-vaccines-why-are-some-countries-suspending-its-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/astrazeneca-vaccines-why-are-some-countries-suspending-its-use\/","title":{"rendered":"#AstraZeneca vaccines: Why are some countries suspending its use?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#AstraZeneca vaccines: Why are some countries suspending its use?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Vaxx Populi: There have been reports of blood clots in some recipients. But in the absence of evidence they were caused by the vaccine, some experts think this move is overly cautious.\n <\/div>\n
\n As Canada ramps up its vaccination program, a growing list of countries in Europe are scaling theirs down\u2014<\/span>at least, for now. Last week, Austria, Denmark, Norway and Iceland temporarily halted their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid <\/span>reports that some people developed blood clots<\/span><\/a>\u00a0after getting that particular vaccine. <\/span>As of now, nearly 20 European nations, including Germany and France, have suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, governments are urging people not to assume that such actions mean there is definite proof of a link between blood clots and the vaccine. On March 14, <\/span>as the independent National Immunisation Advisory Committee of Ireland recommended a<\/span><\/a> \u201ctemporary deferral of the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine,\u201d it also said that \u201ct<\/span>he possible relationship between these events and the [vaccine] is uncertain and is being investigated.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some <\/span>experts have questioned whether such large-scale precautionary moves are needed<\/span><\/a>, especially as the number of instances are extremely low and the risks in this pandemic are well-known. As well, <\/span>AstraZeneca accounts for more than 15 per cent of COVID-19 vaccine orders<\/span><\/a> in Europe, which already has a faltering immunization effort amid a third wave of COVID-19 cases, reports the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0How many people a day could Canada vaccinate when going full-tilt?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On Monday, Dr. <\/span>Bonnie Henry, B.C.\u2019s provincial health officer, said<\/span><\/a>, \u201cWe have to remember as well that 17 million doses of AstraZeneca have been given [and], so far, 37 cases of blood clots have been detected. That\u2019s lower than what we might see, even in the general<\/a> population, without vaccination.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those 37 cases that Dr. Henry mentioned are known because health authorities around the world are tracking any possible post-vaccination side effects, as they do for medicines, medical devices and diagnostic tests (in Britain, <\/span>this tracking system is called the <\/span>Yellow Card Scheme<\/span><\/a>). \u201cSo far across the\u00a0 EU and U.K., there have been 15 events of DVT [deep vein thrombosis] and 22 events of pulmonary embolism reported among those given the vaccine, based on the number of cases the company has received as of March 8,\u201d explained <\/span>AstraZeneca on March 14<\/span><\/a>, at which time more than 17 million people in Europe and Britain had received the firm\u2019s vaccine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) has given some details of incidents in that nation, which were flagged as a pattern in its post-vaccine surveillance data, including of the app<\/a>roximately 1.6 million Germans immunized using the AstraZeneca vaccine. As of March 15, it has information on seven cases of a \u201cspecific form of severe cerebral venous thrombosis associated with platelet deficiency,\u201d Jess Rohmann, a Berlin-based scientist, <\/span>translated from the linked PEI document in a long, technical Twitter thread<\/span><\/a>. Those seven people were between 20 and 50 years old and three died, and all cases occurred four to 16 days after their AstraZeneca shots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The question that experts are asking is: Are the blood clots <\/span>caused <\/span><\/i>by the vaccine or are they a <\/span>coincidence<\/span><\/i>? After all, statistics show that some of those same millions of people would have <\/span>gotten <\/span>blood clots whether they had the vaccine or not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0AstraZeneca is likely the next vaccine coming to Canada. What do we know about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Certainly blood clots can be serious, even fatal, depending on where they develop or travel<\/a> within the body. And seniors, who often have underlying conditions, can be at higher risk of blood clots. As <\/span>Thrombosis Canada explained on March 11<\/span><\/a> when it commented on the European precautionary moves, \u201c<\/span>Thrombosis is a common medical problem, especially in older people. It is therefore likely that some people who receive a vaccine will, at some point, in the future develop a blood clot for reasons that are not related to the vaccine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

AstraZeneca points out<\/span><\/a> that the current number of reported blood clots is \u201cmuch lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed COVID-19 vaccines.\u201d Also, as<\/span> the <\/span>Guardian <\/span><\/i>pointed ou<\/span><\/a>t, 38 cases of blood clots involving people who have received the Pfizer vaccine have been reported through Britain\u2019s Yellow Card Scheme.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Penelope Ward, a professor of pharmaceutical medicine at King\u2019s College London who has reviewed data collected by the U.K. medicines regulator, said the number of reports of blood clots among recipients of the Oxford\/AstraZeneca vaccine was still comparatively low. \u201cIn the U.K., about 165 people a day might suffer a thrombotic episode, some of which will be fatal,\u201d <\/span>Ward <\/span>told\u00a0the <\/span>Financial Times<\/span><\/i><\/a>. \u201cIn contrast, the number of reports from the ongoing vaccine programme in the U.K. and EU, which includes [more than] 20 million individuals vaccinated to date, is just 37. By chance alone, at least 15,000 such events might have been expected from a population of that size.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0COVID-19 in Canada: How our battle to stop the pandemic is going<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yet, <\/span>as Rohmann explained<\/span><\/a>, the number of cases in Germany \u201cwas found to be statistically significantly higher than the number of cerebral venous thrombosis that normally occurred in the general population,\u201d according to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, which <\/span>consulted with medical specialists who<\/span><\/a> \u201c<\/span>unanimously agreed that a pattern could be recognized here and a connection between the reported cases and the AZ vaccination \u2018was not implausible.\u2019 \u201d So, the investigations continue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>European Medicines Agency also hasn\u2019t found a causal link<\/a> and, while stat<\/span>ing that it is looking into the blood clot issue, it said that it \u201ccurrently remains of the view that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, <\/span>Canada\u2019s National Advisory Committee on Immunizations, which is in constant contact with regulators around the world, reversed its earlier recommendation<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and now advises that those 65 and older be given the AstraZeneca vaccine, because the vaccine\u2019s phase three trials included few seniors. \u201cThere is now real-world evidence from the United Kingdom who has been administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people 65 years of age and older. This evidence demonstrates high safety and effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in older adults, particularly against severe COVID-19 disease and hospitalization,\u201d NACI explained.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As experts determine whether the blood clots can be definitively linked or not to the AstraZeneca vaccine, there is one disease which carries a relatively high risk of blood clots: COVID-19. <\/span>Michael Fralick, a scientist at the University of Toronto, did the math on Twitter<\/a><\/span>, aided by <\/span>a study he co-authored<\/a> earlier in 2021 in the <\/span>Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/span><\/i>: \u201c<\/span>The available data suggest that among 5 million people who received the AZ vaccine, 30 developed a blood clot. So, 30 in 5 million. Our research team has shown that among those with COVID about 2% developed a blood clot. So about 100,000 in 5 million.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Canada rolls out the country\u2019s most complex vaccination project to date, <\/span><\/i>Maclean\u2019s <\/span>presents <\/span><\/i>Vaxx Populi<\/span>, an ongoing series<\/a> in which Patricia Treble tackles the most pressing questions related to the new COVID-19 vaccines. Send us a question you\u2019d like answered at vaccines@macleans.ca. If you have specific questions about your own health, we recommend consulting a family doctor or the local public health authority in your area.<\/span><\/i>
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