Illustration of AstraZeneca vaccine vials. – Manu Fernandez / AP / SIPA
A new investigation was opened on Friday after the death of a man who was vaccinated with AstraZeneca. The 42-year-old man received a first dose of the vaccine on March 13. He died on the 22nd, nine days later at his home in Pleumeur-Bodou, in the Côtes d’Armor. The man is said to have succumbed to thrombosis, a blood clot forming in a blood vessel and obstructing it.
The Saint-Brieuc public prosecutor’s office announced the opening of an investigation “to find the causes of death”, as revealed West France. The autopsy could not be carried out, the deceased having already been buried. “He was in good health, he had a medical reason which was sufficient to vaccinate him but which was unrelated to the thrombosis which was fatal to him”, declared Me Etienne Boittin.
The family lawyer added that he had “three cases of death resulting from a thrombosis for which the link between the thrombosis and the injection of AstraZeneca is questioned”. It is he who defends the family of a medical student from Nantes, who died suddenly at home of a thrombosis on March 18, a few days after an injection of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A vaccine now reserved for the elderly
According to the lawyer, it takes between three and four weeks to have a “precise conclusion” on the origin of the death after complete medical examinations and analysis of the medical file. The conclusions concerning the Nantes student should be known within “eight to fifteen days”.
Since its authorization, the course of AstraZeneca has been chaotic, with several twists and turns that have damaged the confidence of the general public. On February 2, just after its authorization, it was first reserved for people under 65 in France, for lack of data on its effectiveness in the elderly. A month later, its use is extended to all ages.
Then, in mid-March, the vaccine was suspended a few days after reports in Europe of very rare and very atypical thromboses. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) acknowledged on Wednesday that they were well linked to AstraZeneca. In the meantime, France had decided on March 19 to inject it only to people over 55 years old, because these thromboses have mainly been observed in younger subjects. The High Authority for Health has just announced that patients under 55 who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca would receive a dose of Moderna or Pfeizer for their second injection.