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The Netherlands will stop vaccinating with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the next two weeks. That let the Ministry of Health know. “As a precaution and in anticipation of further investigation,” says Minister Hugo de Jonge.
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Tom Le Bacq
Yesterday at 11:18 PM-
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As a precaution, the Netherlands will stop vaccinating with the vaccine from pharmaceutical AstraZeneca for two weeks. This will happen until Sunday 28 March, the Ministry of Health reports on its website. In recent days, several countries have also suspended the administration of the vaccine, due to reports of thrombosis after a shot.
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The immediate reason for the advice of the Dutch Medicines Authority MEB is new information that became available this weekend. These are complaints other than the limited number of reports of thrombosis after vaccination. The MEB indicates that a total of six new reports of possible side effects have been received from Denmark and Norway. These are serious, rare signs of clot formation (thrombosis) and a reduced number of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) in adults under 50 years of age. No similar cases are currently known in the Netherlands.
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The MEB emphasizes that no causal relationship has yet been demonstrated between the vaccine and the reports from Norway and Denmark. The EMA’s European Pharmacovigilance Committee PRAC is currently investigating further.
READ ALSO. All questions about the corona vaccine answered
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Minister de Jonge: “The crucial question is whether it concerns complaints after vaccination or caused by vaccination. There should be no doubt about the vaccines. I think it is very important that the reports are properly investigated. We must always err on the side of caution, which is why it is wise to press the pause button now as a precaution. I rely entirely on our experts for this. ”
Just today, AstraZeneca announced that there is no evidence of an increased risk of thromboses in people vaccinated with the vaccine. The company says after studying the data of more than 17 million vaccinees in the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Belgium
The European drug agency EMA also said it had no evidence of a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and cases of thrombosis.
Our country will continue with vaccinations of the AstraZeneca vaccine until further notice. “There is currently no evidence of a causal relationship between AstraZeneca vaccination and blood clots. The incidence of thrombosis in vaccinated individuals does not exceed what is observed in the general unvaccinated population. The position of the vaccination task force, like that of the European Medicines Agency, is that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 outweigh the risks, ”said Pierre Van Damme of the vaccination task force.
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