Denmark suspends use of AstraZeneca COVID vaccine after blood clot reports

The Danish Health Authority on Thursday halted the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for 14 days.

It follows reports of “serious cases of blood clots among vaccinated people,” a statement read.

However, the authority stopped short of saying there was a direct link between the vaccine and the blood clots, “at the time being.”

“It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.

How many countries have suspended the jab?

Shortly after Denmark’s announcement, Iceland and Norway both halted the rollout of the vaccine.

Italy also moved to ban a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports “of some serious adverse effects.” The country’s medicine regulator stressed, however, that there was currently no established link between the alleged side-effects and the administration of the vaccine.

Danish, EU authorities launch an investigation
The Danish Medicines Agency said it had launched an investigation into the vaccine.

The probe is being carried out by corresponding agencies in other EU-countries as well as the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EMA is in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products in the EU.

“Both we and the Danish Medicines Agency have to respond to reports of possible serious side-effects, both from Denmark and other European countries,” the director of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement.

What EMA and AstraZeneca said about the vaccine

AstraZeneca said its shots are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls.

It said there have been “no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine.”

Austria recently stopped using AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.

The EMA found no evidence linking the Austrian cases to the AstraZeneca vaccine, the agency said on Wednesday.

It said the number of thromboembolic events - marked by the formation of blood clots - in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is no higher than that seen in the general population.

Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia have also halted inoculations while the investigation continues.

Spanish Health Minister Carolina Darias said her country would continue to administer the vaccine and had not discovered any cases of blood clots related to it.

There had been 22 cases of such events being reported among the 3 million people who have received the AstraZeneca shot as of March 9.

AstraZeneca vaccine use in Europe

A delivery of 1 million doses of the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company vaccine went to 17 EU countries.

A lack of efficacy data on its use in people over 65 has led to several health authorities limiting its use.

Germany’s independent Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) recently approved the AstraZeneca for use in people of all ages after new data was released.

However, many AstraZeneca doses are going unused in Germany due to worries that the vaccine is less effective against virus mutations.

South Africa halted the rollout of the vaccine due to a trial showing it was less effective against the South African B.1.351 COVID variant.