The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday that after examining the available information, it concluded that the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca's vaccine against the coronavirus infection COVID-19 is "safe and effective", despite reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people.
"The committee reached a clear scientific conclusion: this vaccine is safe and effective," EVA chief Emer Cooke said at a press conference, referring to the investigation by the agency's vaccine safety committee.
"The committee also concluded that this vaccine is not associated with an increased overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots [formation]," she added.
This finding may prompt some European countries that have stopped vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution to resume the use of this preparation.
Cooke said the EVA "cannot definitively rule out a link" between "a rare type of blood clot and the vaccine, so experts recommend encouraging doctors and vaccine recipients to be aware of the potential risks."
EVA recommended adding a description of these events to product information leaflets so that healthcare workers and patients are aware of the possibility of rare blood clots.
AstraZeneca's vaccine "has demonstrated at least 60 percent effectiveness in clinical trials." effectiveness in protecting against coronavirus disease. And in fact, data collected under real-world conditions suggests that the effectiveness may be even greater."
A string of European countries suspended vaccinations with the drug last week after concerns about rare cases of blood clots found in tens of millions of people vaccinated.
Editor Raimondas Čiuplys
