Sweden bans AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Sweden on Tuesday became the latest European country to pause use of the AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine amid reports of dangerous blood clots in some recipientsThe company and international regulators continue to say the vaccine is safe however and many countries elsewhere in the world are forging ahead with their vaccination campaignsThe move by the Swedish Public Health Agency is pending an investigation by the European Medicines Agency rdquoThe decision is a precautionary measurerdquo Swedish chief epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said in a statementAlso on Tuesday the German government said it will postpone a virtual summit on the countryrsquos vaccination efforts until after the EMA meeting scheduled for ThursdayGermany France Italy and Spain were among countries that suspended use of the vaccine on MondayThe German government and the countryrsquos 16 state governors had planned to meet Wednesday for a virtual summit on the countryrsquos slow vaccination campaign and on ways to speed it upAstraZenecarsquos formula is one of three vaccines in use on the European continent But the escalating concern is another setback for the European Unionrsquos vaccination drive which has been plagued by shortages and other hurdles and is lagging well behind the campaigns in Britain and the USThe EUrsquos drug regulatory agency will review expertsrsquo findings on the AstraZeneca shot and decide whether action needs to be takenMuch of Asia has shrugged off concerns about the AstraZeneca jab with Thailandrsquos prime minister receiving a shot at the start of the countryrsquos use of the vaccine on TuesdayldquoThere are people who have concernsrdquo Prayuth Chanocha said after his vaccination ldquoBut we must believe doctors believe in our medical professionalsrdquoThailand initially was the first country outside Europe to temporarily suspend using the AstraZeneca vaccine But Thailandrsquos health authorities later decided to go ahead with it with Prayuth and members of his Cabinet receiving the first shotsIndonesia suspended use of the vaccine on Monday saying it was waiting for a full report from the World Health Organization regarding possible side effectsAstraZeneca has developed a manufacturing base in Asia and the Serum Institute of India the worldrsquos largest vaccine maker has been contracted by the company to produce a billion doses of the vaccine for developing nations Hundreds of millions more are to be manufactured this year in Australia Japan Thailand and South KoreaAstraZeneca has said there have been 37 reports of blood clots out of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the 27country EU and Britain The drugmaker said there is no evidence the vaccine carries an increased risk of clotsIn fact it said the incidence of clots is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar to that of other licensed COVID19 vaccinesAustraliarsquos chief medical officer Paul Kelly said there was no evidence so far that the vaccine causes blood clotsldquoBlood clots happen they happen in Australia fairly commonlyrdquo he said ldquoBut from my perspective I do not see that there is any specific link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots and Irsquom not alone in that opinionrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever