AstraZeneca: European regulator judges blood clots to be added to rare side effects



At the headquarters of the European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam. – REMKO DE WAAL / ANP / AFP

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) ruled on Wednesday that blood clots should be added to the rare side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It also considers that the benefit / risk balance of the serum remains “positive”. The agency has not identified a risk factor specific to this incident, but considers “plausible” that it is linked to an immune response.

The EMA held a press conference on the potential link between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clot formation. It was to give “the conclusion of the examination of the alarm signal” launched about this vaccine in relation to “cases of thrombosis”, said the European regulator, based in Amsterdam.

Very rare cases

The European regulator said on Tuesday that it was still evaluating whether the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus is potentially linked to the formation of rare blood clots, reported in several countries. An EMA official had previously mentioned the existence of a “link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the cases of thrombosis observed after its administration, in an interview with the Italian daily Il Messaggero published Tuesday

The EMA had announced on March 18 that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine continued to outweigh the risks and that its use remained safe, after the suspension of injections by several countries. The agency had explained, however, that there was a possible link to rare cases of blood clots, and that it would release updated advice at its safety committee meeting this week.



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