By SudOuest.fr with AFP
Posted on 04/06/2021 11:42 AM
Updated 04/06/2021 at 3:32 p.m.
An official from the European Medicines Agency confirmed on Tuesday a cause and effect link between the thromboses observed in recent weeks with AstraZeneca serum. The security committee will give its opinion these days
An EMA official confirms 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 this Tuesday.
“We can now say it, it is clear that there is a link with the vaccine. What causes this reaction, however, we don’t know yet, ”says Marco Cavaleri, vaccine strategy manager at EMA. “To sum up, in the next few hours we will say that there is a connection, but we still have to understand how it happens.” The agency is due to meet on the case from April 6 to 9.
The EMA “has not yet reached a conclusion”, recalls for its part, the security committee: “We will organize a press point as soon as the examination is finalized”, added the regulator, specifying that an announcement is currently expected Wednesday or Thursday.
Suspicion
“We are trying to get a precise picture of what is going on, to define precisely this syndrome due to the vaccine […] Among those vaccinated, there are more cases of cerebral thrombosis in young people than we would expect. We will have to say that, ”he said again.
For several weeks, suspicions have thus appeared on possible serious side effects, but rare. Dozens of cases have already been identified, several of which have resulted in death.
So far, the EMA has argued that “no causal link to the vaccine is proven,” even though it is “possible,” and that the benefits of vaccination against the coronavirus always outweigh the risks.
For Paul Hunter, a specialist in medical microbiology at the University of East Anglia, “the evidence points to the fact that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is indeed the cause”. As a precaution, several countries have decided not to administer it below a certain age, such as France, Germany and Canada. Others have suspended it altogether.
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