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- Three countries have temporarily suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccines.
- This after some patients developed post-jab blood clots.
- Four other countries had also suspended use of the vaccine after a nurse reportedly died after taking it.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as the manufacturer and Europe's medicines watchdog insisted the vaccine was safe.
Meanwhile, Italy's medicine regulator said Thursday it was banning a batch of the AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccine following fears of a link to blood clots that sparked suspensions elsewhere in Europe.
"Following the reporting of some serious adverse events... AIFA has decided, as a precaution, to issue a ban on the use of this batch throughout the national territory," AIFA said in a statement.
It said that it "reserves the right to take further measures, if necessary," in coordination with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
But the EMA said on Thursday that European countries can keep using AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine during an investigation into cases of blood clots that prompted Denmark, Norway and Iceland to suspend jabs, the EU's drug regulator said on Thursday.
"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," the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said in a statement.
Denmark was first to announce its suspension, "following reports of serious cases of blood clots" among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement.
It stressed the move was precautionary, and that "it has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots".
As of 9 March, 22 cases of blood clots had been reported among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
Austria announced on Monday that it had suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a 49-year-old nurse died of "severe blood coagulation problems" days after receiving an anti-Covid shot.
Four other European countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg - have also suspended the use of vaccines from this batch, which was sent to 17 European countries and consisted of one million jabs.
Concerns
Denmark however suspended the use of all of its AstraZeneca supply, as did Iceland and Norway in subsequent announcements on Thursday citing similar concerns.
On Wednesday, the EMA said a preliminary probe showed that the batch of AstraZeneca vaccines used in Austria was likely not to blame for the nurse's death.
AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company which developed the vaccine with Oxford University, defended the safety of its product.
"The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase III clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine has been generally well tolerated," a spokesperson for the group told AFP.
Britain, whose widely-praised vaccine rollout has been largely underpinned by the AstraZeneca jab, also defended it as "both safe and effective".
The Danish suspension, which will be reviewed after two weeks, is expected to slow down the country's vaccination campaign.
Denmark now expects to have its entire adult population vaccinated by mid-August instead of early July, the health authority said.
