Earlier this week, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that there may be a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare thrombosis.
In total, more than 400,000 injections have been made with AstraZeneca in our country. To date, eight reports of women between 23 and 65 years of age who experienced serious side effects after a vaccination with AstraZeneca have been received at the Lareb side effect center. One woman died from a blood clot in her lungs.
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Pending advice from the Health Council, outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge therefore decided earlier this week to temporarily stop giving people under 60 the AstraZeneca vaccine.
It is precisely the over 60s that sting
Yesterday, the Health Council issued the advice to stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under 60 years old completely, but instead to continue with the vaccine for people over 60.
Why then do people over 60 get this injection? Are they not at risk of serious side effects?
Prevention is more important
According to the Health Council, it is especially important for them to prevent illness and death from COVID-19.
The risk of serious illness and / or death from corona is greater for this group than the risk of serious side effects from the vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccine, they say, is good and safe for this age group. Therefore, GPs can continue to vaccinate people over 60 with AstraZeneca.
“It is a very clear advice from the Health Council. And then it is not that difficult to take this decision”, outgoing minister Hugo de Jonge tells RTL Nieuws.
The Health Council recommends using one of the other vaccines for people under the age of 60. In this group, the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19 is considerably lower, so that the risk of the side effect is more important.
Why not only give to men?
The serious side effects that entered the Lareb were all in women so far. Can’t we just give AstraZeneca to men?
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In the initial phase, the almost half a million injections with AstraZeneca were mainly applied to care workers of nursing homes, care for the disabled and community nurses, and older people. Many women work in healthcare.
“It seems that these serious side effects are more common in women,” says Agnes Kant of the Lareb. “But we don’t know if that is really the case.”
It’s not that only women can be affected. “In the Netherlands, we have not yet had a report of a serious side effect in a man. At European level there are known cases of serious side effects in men. Even though the majority of these are women.”
Man died after vaccination with AstraZeneca
One died in England last week 59 year old man due to a blood clot in the brain after the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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