Why Norway and Denmark still block Astrazeneca
Norway and Denmark will not return to administer Astrazeneca before April 15, despite the green light of the EMA: investigations on the vaccine and serious adverse reactions are still ongoing
Norway and Denmark are still waiting on Astrazeneca.
The two countries, despite the other European states having resumed the inoculation of the Astrazeneca vaccine , have decided to further extend the stop to the administration, to evaluate any links between the drug and the serious adverse reactions recorded after vaccination.
NORWAY: STOP UNTIL APRIL 15
After the report of the appearance of some blood clots, hemorrhages and decrease in the number of platelets in patients vaccinated with the drug, developed by the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Italian Irbm, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo has decided to extend the stop to vaccination with AstraZeneca until April 15 (from March 11).
OSLO WANTS MORE INFORMATION
The country's goal, Bloomberg writes , is to gather more information on why these serious adverse reactions have occurred.
"It is necessary to weigh the benefits of vaccination against the risk of rare but serious side effects from continued use," commented Geir Bukholm professor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, who intends to determine whether there is a higher incidence of reactions. serious and if there are any contributing factors.
THE DELAY OF THE VACCINAL CAMPAIGN
The decision will result in a 1- or 2-week delay in the country's vaccination campaign. Even those who have already received the first dose will not have a second one, until the situation is cleared up.
DENMARK
Norway joins Denmark, which has extended the suspension of Astrazeneca vaccines for three weeks (until April 15), despite the opinion of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
INVESTIGATIONS STILL IN PROGRESS
The Danish health and medicines authority, writes The New York Times, still intends to investigate, explains the head of the Danish health service, Søren Brostrøm, whether the Astrazeneca vaccine is the cause of bleeding, blood clots and low platelets.
For the Danish health authority, in fact, the EMA cannot "definitively exclude" a link between the vaccine and adverse reactions. “We have started several studies and talked to experts in the affected areas, so we are sure to find out the scope and possible link,” said Søren Brostrøm, director of the Danish National Board of Health.
UNCERTAIN BASES FOR ADMINISTRATION
"At the moment – added Søren Brostrøm – we believe that our basis for making a final decision on the further use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is too uncertain".
VACCINAL CAMPAIGN DELAYS ALSO FOR DENMARK
Studies and checks that obviously delay the vaccination campaign in Denmark too. "We are very aware that a continued suspension of vaccination with AstraZeneca's vaccine is delaying the Danish vaccination program against COVID-19," said Brostrøm, adding: "However, we have the vaccines in the refrigerator and if we decide to restart vaccination, we can rapidly distribute and use vaccines ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/sanita/perche-norvegia-e-danimarca-bloccano-ancora-astrazeneca/ on Fri, 26 Mar 2021 14:34:38 +0000.