AstraZeneca said in a statement on Sunday that the data of people who received its COVID-19 vaccine has shown no risk of blood clotting. AstraZeneca reviewed data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European countries.
The statement came after several European countries including Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands reported blood clots in people after AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccinations and suspended its use. In Austria, health authorities have also stopped using AstraZeneca Vaccine after the death of a woman from coagulation disorders days after vaccination.
AstraZeneca said the review showed that its COVID-19 vaccine is not linked to an increased risk of blood clotting conditions such as:
- Pulmonary embolism – A blockage in the pulmonary arteries of the lungs due to blood clots.
- Deep vein thrombosis – Blood clot formation in a deep vein, usually in the legs.
- Thrombocytopenia – A low blood platelet count.
The company said that it has received 15 reports of deep vein thrombosis and 22 reports of pulmonary embolism in people who received the vaccine in the EU and UK as of March 8. These numbers are much lower than those that occur naturally in a population. Additionally, the numbers are the same across other Covid-19 vaccines.
AstraZeneca also mentioned that the number of blood clotting events was lower in the vaccinated group in the clinical trial. Furthermore, no incidence of bleeding was reported in 60,000 participants enrolled in the trial.
European health authorities found no significant evidence that the blood clotting was caused by the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination.
AstraZeneca said that it will always ensure the safety of the public. It will conduct more testing of its COVID-19 vaccine and provide monthly safety reports to the general public on the EMA website.
AstraZeneca also added “The company is keeping this issue under close review but available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause. To overcome the pandemic, it is important that people get vaccinated when invited to do so.”
Peter English, a retired British government consultant in communicable disease control, told Reuters “It is most regrettable that countries have stopped vaccination on such ‘precautionary’ grounds: it risks doing real harm to the goal of vaccinating enough people to slow the spread of the virus, and to end the pandemic.”
AstraZeneca has developed the COVID-19 vaccine in collaboration with Oxford University. The vaccine got emergency approval in many European countries.
In India, AstraZeneca- Oxford vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under the brand name Covishield. Covishield was approved by the government for emergency use in January. So far, over 30 million people have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
AstraZeneca COVID-19 has not received approved in the US. The company is planning to file for emergency use authorisation from Food and Drug Administration.