After the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced that AstraZeneca's vaccine against COVID-19 is safe and effective, vaccination with this vaccine is resumed in Lithuania.
"Today, following the EVA meeting and the information and recommendations provided by the State Medicines Control Service, vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine will be resumed from tomorrow morning," Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys told reporters on Thursday.
The head of the State Drug Control Service, Gytis Andrulionis, said that the service will take "additional measures to ensure pharmacological vigilance and safety."
"We will exchange information between the service, the ministry and vaccination centers more promptly, we will inform doctors more promptly about the requirements for the summary of the characteristics of the preparation," said G. Andrulionis.
According to him, doctors will be informed about what to look for before prescribing the AstraZeneca vaccine to patients, as well as additional consultations.
"We will actively advise patients and specialists about adverse reactions to the vaccine," said the head of the service.
Vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Lithuania has been suspended since Wednesday, after a dozen other European Union countries did the same.
This decision was recommended to the Ministry of Health by the State Medicines Control Service after receiving three reports of blood clots occurring after vaccination.
However, the agency said it has no evidence yet that the vaccine was the cause of the illness.
The EVA, which carried out the study, declared on Thursday that AstraZeneca's vaccine against COVID-19 was "safe and effective", despite reports that some vaccinated people developed blood clots.
However, EVA recommended adding additional information leaflets for this vaccine so that health care workers and patients are aware of the possibility of rare cases of blood clots.
Author Ramūnas Jakubauskas
