In the wake of many European countries rejecting the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the company has said that there has been no evidence of increased blood clot risk from its vaccine. The suspensions have come amid several reports of blood clots following vaccinations with the Covid vaccine developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant and the University of Oxford.
"Safety is of paramount importance and the Company is continually monitoring the safety of its vaccine," the company said in a statement on Sunday.
"A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country," it added.
So far across the EU and UK, there have been 15 events of DVT (a condition arising out of blood clot forming in a vein) and 22 events of pulmonary embolism (blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in lungs due to blood clots) reported among those given the vaccine, based on the number of cases the company has received as of 8 March, AstraZeneca said.
The company said that this is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed Covid-19 vaccines.
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