EU Backs AstraZeneca's Covid-19 Vaccine but Identifies Possible Links to Clots -- Update
April 07 2021 - 11:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Daniel Michaels
BRUSSELS -- The European Union's health agency said it had found
possible links between AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 vaccine and rare
blood clots but that the shot's benefits continue to outweigh the
potential risks.
The European Medicines Agency said it found no specific risk
factors linking the vaccine to the clots.
The vaccine, which was developed jointly with the University of
Oxford, has faced questions about its efficacy and potential side
effects even as tens of millions of doses have been administered
following safety signoffs in more than 70 countries world-wide.
A number of EU member countries, including France, Germany and
Italy, temporarily suspended the vaccine's use last month following
reports that people who had received it developed rare blood clots
and that some had died, further slowing Europe's already slow
vaccination rollout.
EMA officials said that most of the clots identified were in
people under age 60 and women, but cautioned that the data didn't
pinpoint a clear link because it remained unclear how
representative recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine are within the
overall population.
"Some of that could be explained by how the vaccine is being
used," said Sabine Straus, chair of the EMA's safety committee, of
possible higher-risk groups.
EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said that because the clots
are so rare, the risk of death from Covid-19 is much greater than
the risk of dying from the possible side effects.
Write to Daniel Michaels at daniel.michaels@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 07, 2021 10:46 ET (14:46 GMT)
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