The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday certified the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19, urging countries to continue administering it.
The global health organisation’s clear statement is followed by the suspension of the vaccine by 10 European countries as a result of blood clotting incidents.
WHO spokesperson, Dr. Margaret Harris, said in a virtual press conference that they were aware of “blood clot concerns linked to a specific batch of AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine.”
Harris said, “As of 9 March, there have been over 268 million doses of vaccine delivered since the start of the pandemic.
“Based on data reported – that’s data reported to WHO by national governments – no causes of death have been found or been caused by COVID-19 vaccines to date.”
According to her, the AstraZeneca vaccine was being investigated by the organisation’s independent expert global advisory board, (SAGE), and that its report would be made public, but that countries should not stop its inoculation.
She said blood clotting episodes were “common occurrence in people, so, it’s not clear if this is something that is going to happen, or whether the vaccine is responsible,” adding that “a causal relationship has not been shown.”
She added by stating that the risk assessment committee of the European Union medical agencies’, Pharmacovigilance, had vouched for the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying that its “benefits outweigh the risks.”
Meanwhile, some European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Italy and Thailand have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, while investigating the suspicion that incidents of blood clot in some patients that were inoculated could have been caused by the vaccine.
Denmark was first to suspend administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, for two weeks, after a 60-year-old woman who had been inoculated had blood clot and died.
WHO had approved the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, on February 15, this year.
