The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (ChAdOx1-S) is used to prevent COVID-19.
COVID-19 disease is an infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus – although it can’t cause illness.
A single shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is highly protective and also helps in reducing the chance of someone getting ill.
Once injected, it teaches the body’s immune system how to fight the real virus.
Countries across Europe are suspending the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab… Why?
According to reports, some countries across Europe are suspending — some fully, some partially — the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab after reports of blood clotting after vaccination.
There have been several deaths from clotting, but health authorities have stressed there’s no indication of a link to vaccination.
These countries are:
1. Austria
2. Denmark
3. Estonia
4. Lithuania
5. Luxembourg
6. Latvia
7. Italy
8. Norway
9. Iceland
The countries above have all suspended the rollout of at least some Oxford/AstraZeneca batches as a precautionary measure.
What you need to know about the batch — ABV5300
The batch — ABV5300 — was delivered to 17 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden) and in total comprises one million doses.
While Italy hasn’t received that specific batch, it announced this week that it’s pausing the rollout of a different batch — ABV2856 as a precaution in response to “some serious, adverse events”.
The European Medicines Agency said that as of March 10, there were 30 reported cases of blood clotting-related incidents out of close to five million people who have received the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe, excluding the U.K.
The regulator said the figures are “no higher than that seen in the general population,” and there’s no indication that the vaccine caused the conditions.
The trend of ‘blood clots’
Denmark and Norway were among the countries that temporarily halted the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution.
It followed reports of people having blood clots and dying after vaccination.
Austria suspended the use of a particular batch of the drug this week when a woman died 10 days after vaccination because of “severe blood coagulation problems”.
The Austrian doses were part of a batch of one million doses, identified as ABV5300, sent to 17 European countries.
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg also stopped using doses from that batch.
The suspensions in Italy and Austria involve different batches of the vaccine.
