Europe's drug regulator has reacted to growing rumors about the side effects of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, saying the benefits outweigh the risks, as four major EU countries announced they were suspending use.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain temporarily stopped the vaccine after reporting incidents of bleeding, blood clots and a low platelet count in some people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that "many thousands of people develop blood clots every year in the EU for various reasons" and that the number of incidents in vaccinated people "does not appear to be higher than that seen in the general population ".
EMA said it is working with AstraZeneca and national health regulators, including the UK Drugs and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), where 11 million people have been vaccinated, to analyze all available data and to determine if the vaccine may have been affected.
The MHRA, which collects reports of side effects on medicines and vaccines in the UK through its "yellow card" scheme, told the Guardian it had received more reports by 28 February of blood clots from Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines than Oxford / AstraZeneca - 38 vs. 30 - although none exceed the expected level in the population.
The EMA committee will meet on Tuesday (March 16th) for a further decision.
Source: Guardian, EMA
