AstraZeneca vaccination is maintained in France – Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
Four new cases of atypical thrombosis (clots) associated with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, including two deaths, occurred in France between April 23 and May 6, according to health authorities. Since the start of vaccination with this vaccine, there are “34 cases, including 11 deaths in total” of rare thromboses which have occurred in France, out of more than 4,068,000 injections carried out on May 6, the French Agency said on Monday. drug (ANSM).
These four new cases concern two women in their sixties and seventies and two men in their fifties. The complications observed concern a cerebral venous thrombosis for two of them, a splanchnic thrombosis (digestive, editor’s note) and a deep vein thrombosis associated with a pulmonary embolism, specifies the ANSM according to the 11th pharmacovigilance report concerning this vaccine against the coronavirus.
Maintaining AstraZeneca
The characteristics of the cases declared remain identical to those of the last assessment with a higher average age (median at 60.5 years) and almost equally affecting both sexes (18 women / 16 men). Since March 19, 2021, the use of AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria vaccine has been reserved for people aged 55 and over, recalls the health agency.
A use for this age category that the High Authority for Health (HAS) recommended, on May 12, to maintain, while reaffirming the “indisputable utility” of the vaccine. The HAS had been seized by the Minister of Health Olivier Véran on the opportunity to extend the use of this vaccine to all adults, despite the very rare risk of these atypical thromboses.
In case of side effects that persist beyond three days, such as dizziness, headache, visual disturbances, nausea / vomiting, shortness of breath, sharp pain in the chest, pain in the stomach, bruising on the skin (petechiae) away from the injection site, a doctor should be consulted promptly.