EU Medicines Agency Says AstraZeneca Vaccine's Benefits Still Outweigh Risks, But Link to Blood-Clotting Disease Is Possible
March 31 2021 - 11:59AM
Dow Jones News
By Cecilia Butini
The EU's medicines regulator reiterated its position Wednesday
that the benefits of AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 vaccine outweigh
its risks, after reports of a rare thrombosis disease prompted its
safety committee to carry out a review of the jab while a number of
EU countries temporarily suspended its use.
The European Medicines Agency's executive director, Emer Cooke,
said during a press conference that a link between the vaccine and
a rare condition called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST,
is possible, but that nothing more could be said at this moment.
Ms. Cooke added that it hasn't yet been possible to establish an
age- or gender-based link between the shot and the occurrence of
the disease, and that there is no evidence to support restricting
the use of the vaccine in any population.
As of March 22, there had been 62 cases of the blood-clotting
disorder connected to AstraZeneca's vaccine worldwide, the agency
said. Of these cases, 44 had originated in the European Economic
Area, out of 9.2 million people exposed to the jab, the EMA said,
reiterating that a causal link between the shot and the adverse
events hasn't been proven.
Write to Cecilia Butini at cecilia.butini@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2021 11:44 ET (15:44 GMT)
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