Some European countries suspend rollout of Oxford Covid jab - but regulator says it is safe

A growing number of countries in Europe have suspended the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine over fears about blood clots.

However, the UK medicines regulator has said there is no evidence to suggest the vaccine caused blood clot problems and is urging people to continue having the vaccine when they are called.

‘No indication’ vaccine caused clots

Denmark, Norway and Iceland have all temporarily halted all AstraZeneca vaccinations to investigate reports of blood clots among people who have had the jab.

Italy also followed Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Lithuania in banning jabs with one particular batch of one million AstraZeneca vaccines, which was sent to 17 countries.

Despite the ban, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there was no evidence to suggest the vaccine was the cause of the blood clots.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) also backed the vaccine’s safety and said there had been just 30 reports of blood clots among close to five million people given the vaccine across Europe.

In a statement it said: “The position of EMA’s safety committee… is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing.”

AstraZeneca said patient safety was its “highest priority” and regulators have “clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards” for the approval of any new medicine.

It said: “The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase three clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well tolerated.”

Precautionary measures

Earlier this week the EMA reported that one person in Austria was diagnosed with blood clots and died 10 days after vaccination, but stressed there was “currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions”.