“At present, there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions.”
The Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said there is “no indication” the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has caused blood clot incidents.
Speaking at a virtual briefing on Tuesday afternoon, Emer Cooke said she remained “firmly convinced” the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the potential risks.
An EMA investigation into cases of blood clots in a handful of recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine is ongoing with results expected on Thursday.
“At present, there is no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions,” Cooke said.
“They have not come up in the clinical trials and they are not listed as known or expected side events with this vaccine. We need to have the facts first, we cannot come to a conclusion until we’ve done a thorough scientific analysis.
“In clinical trials, both the vaccinated people and those who received the placebo have shown very small numbers of blood clot developments.
“The number of thromboembolic events overall in the vaccinated people seems not to be higher than that seen in the general population.”
AstraZeneca itself has said a review of 17 million people who received doses in Europe found there were 37 cases of people who had developed blood clots, which according to experts, is no higher than that of the general population.
A number of countries, including Ireland, have temporarily suspended vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure, however the World Health Organisation has urged countries not to halt the vaccinations.
While its investigation is ongoing, the EMA said it currently remains of the view that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.
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