The Danish authorities have decided this Thursday to extend the suspension of immunizations with AstraZeneca’s KOVID-19 vaccine for another three weeks while they continue to assess its safety, the Associated Press reported.
The decision was made on the basis of alleged side effects, “Tanya Eriksen of the Danish Medicines Agency told a news conference.
Denmark stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure on March 11 after reports that a 60-year-old woman died from blood clots in several parts of her body a week after she was immunized with the vaccine, according to health officials.
Shortly afterwards, a second death was reported in Denmark after the vaccine. Danish health authorities said they had no evidence of a link between vaccination and deaths.
“I would like to emphasize that I am not talking about ordinary blood clots. It’s not about blood clots in the arms, legs and lungs, “Eriksen said.
“A link between vaccination and very rare cases of blood clots cannot be ruled out,” she added.
“Many are wondering if we are being too careful. Yes, you can say that. We have added additional precautionary principles, “Brustrom said. Denmark will not use the AstraZeneca vaccine until at least April 18. So far, nearly 150,000 people in the country have been immunized with it.
“At the moment, we believe that our reasons for making a final decision on the further use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine are very uncertain. A lot of research has been done, but so far we have no conclusions. That’s why we decided to extend the suspension of its use, “said Soren Brustrom, director of the National Health Council.
He took his words when and if Denmark resumed vaccination with AstraZeneca, people would be given the opportunity to refuse immunization with the drug and wait for other vaccines. Denmark also uses Pfizer and Modern, according to the Associated Press.
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