Netherlands, Ireland suspending use of AstraZeneca vaccines

PanARMENIAN.Net - AstraZeneca on Sunday, March 14 insisted that is Covid-19 vaccine was safe citing a review of safety data from inoculated people which found no evidence of increased risk of blood clots, as the Netherlands and Ireland became the latest countries to suspend the use of the vaccine following reports of possible side effects including blood clots, Forbes reports.

The Netherlands announced on Sunday that the use of the AstraZeneca jab will be suspended at least until March 29 as a precaution after reports of unexpected possible side effects in Denmark and Norway.

Ireland also temporarily suspended the use of the shots following the reports from Norway, noting the move was a precaution as no direct link had been established between the vaccine and the adverse events.

Insisting its vaccine is safe, AstraZeneca said it had reviewed safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and the U.K. and found no evidence of an “increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country,” Reuters reported.

Apart from the Netherlands and Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Thailand have also temporarily suspended rollout of the vaccine while Austria has stopped using a particular batch of the shots.