AstraZeneca vaccine: Denmark stops rollout completely
COPENHAGEN, Pan American Day (Xinhua) -- Denmark on Wednesday decided to thoroughly cease administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, said the country's health authority during a joint news conference with the Danish Medicines.
"Based on the scientific findings, our overall assessment is there's a true risk of severe side effects related to using the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca. We have, therefore, decided to get rid of the vaccine from our vaccination program," said Soren Brostrom, director general of the Danish Health Authority.
In a handout issued on Wednesday, the authority also claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was "currently under control" in Denmark, adding that this had contributed to the choice .
Also Read: Covid-19: US agencies involve pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Why is Denmark stopping the AZ vaccine?
Danish officials said that each one 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be withdrawn until further notice.
The Danish Health Authority said studies had shown a better than expected frequency of blood clots following doses, affecting about one in 40,000 people.
It comes after two cases of thrombosis in Denmark were linked to vaccinations, AFP reported. one among the cases, during a 60-year-old woman, was fatal.
Director General Soren Brostrom said it had been a "difficult decision" but Denmark had other vaccines available and therefore the epidemic there was currently in check .
"The upcoming target groups for vaccination are less likely to become severely ill from Covid-19," he said. "We must weigh this against the very fact that we now have a known risk of severe adverse effects from vaccination with AstraZeneca, albeit the danger in absolute terms is slight."
However, the authority said it couldn't rule out using it again at once more .
During the news conference the top of Denmark's Medicines Agency, Tanja Erichsen, fainted and was taken to hospital as a precaution. The agency later tweeted that she had recovered.
What are other countries doing?
Some European countries have limited the utilization of adenovirus vaccines to older people, who are less suffering from the rare blood coagulation condition.
After the Danish announcement, France said it viewed the AstraZeneca vaccine as an "essential tool".
"It is vital that this vaccine still be deployed. it's a vaccine that's safe and works," a French government spokesman said.
France also will plow ahead with plans to offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those aged over 55, the spokesman said. The country has already received 200,000 doses. Belgium also will give the doses it's received, while Greece and Italy won't .
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