Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Suspended in 7 Countries, Company Explains

Concerns about the possible side effects of the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca are clearly spreading in Europe.

The Netherlands is now the seventh country in the world to suspend vaccination against the coronavirus made by AstraZeneca. The government has said the vaccine will be suspended until March 29 as a precaution.

Earlier, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Iceland and Thailand also suspended coronavirus vaccines.

Concerns have been raised about the possible side effects of the vaccine following reports of blood clots in the bodies of about 40 people who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca in Norway and Denmark.

The Dutch health minister, Ugo de Jong, said in a statement: "We cannot rule out the possibility of a vaccine. We need to ensure full safety, so it's a good idea to suspend this vaccine for now. "

The Netherlands has bought 12 million doses of the estrogen vaccine, and plans to vaccinate about 300,000 people in the next two weeks.

However, the World Health Organization says there is no evidence that the vaccine was linked to blood clotting.

The European drug regulator EMA - which is investigating cases of blood clotting - says the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the potential risks.

The British Drug Enforcement Administration says there is no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused the blood clot. For British citizens, they are told to get vaccinated as soon as they are called.

About 17 million people in Britain and the European Union have so far received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

AstraZeneca is also trying to reassure people.

What is AstraZeneca saying?

The vaccine maker said in a statement that there was no scientific evidence that their vaccine increased the risk of blood clots. They say that only 36 out of 16 million people in Europe have had a blood clot, and that those who have not been vaccinated have had the same number of blood clots at the same time.

"About 18 million people in the UK and the EU have already vaccinated us," said Ann Tail, the company's chief medical officer. Hundreds of people get blood clots at normal times. The number of blood clots in people who have been vaccinated is much lower than that. ”

He said the focus was now on each case isolated by the epidemic, and that "the response to approved vaccines for human safety is being monitored much more than normal and conventional surveillance."

The Oxford-Astrageneco vaccine is currently being administered in 75 countries and territories around the world. In some places like Bangladesh only this vaccine is being used.

The BBC's health secretary Michelle Roberts says that although people are being vaccinated against the coronavirus at a rapid rate, many people will be infected with the vaccine, which has nothing to do with the vaccine.

He says some countries are suspending the estrogen vaccine because it is not dangerous. Rather, experts in those countries want to see why some people who have been vaccinated have blood clots in their bodies.

Michelle Roberts said that if a major illness occurs immediately after vaccination, there may be good reason to be concerned. But not much has happened in the case of the AstraZeneca vaccine.