Netherlands Becomes Latest country to Suspend Use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 Vaccine
Netherlands becomes latest country to suspend use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine over concerns of possibly serious side effects – The use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine in the Netherlands has been suspended for at least two weeks while the European Medicines Agency investigates possible adverse side effects from the vaccine (EMA).
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The precautionary decision to suspend use of the vaccine until at least March 28 was based on new information from Norway and Denmark regarding potentially serious side effects in people who received the inoculation, Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said on Sunday.
Op basis van nieuwe informatie uit Noorwegen en Denemarken pauzeren we, uit voorzorg en in afwachting van nader onderzoek, het toedienen van het AstraZeneca-coronavaccin voor twee weken. Lees hier meer 👉 https://t.co/hGgiqwrlpu pic.twitter.com/fLrS82Wmrm
— Hugo de Jonge (@hugodejonge) March 14, 2021
“We can’t allow any doubts about the vaccine,” de Jonge said. “We have to make sure everything is right, so it is wise to pause for now.” Dutch health authorities reportedly had to cancel 43,000 vaccination appointments because of the suspension.
After four new cases of severe blood clotting after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine were registered in Norway, Ireland made the same decision earlier on Sunday, halting use of the vaccine. After several recipients formed blood clots, Denmark and Norway stopped giving AstraZeneca vaccine jabs on Thursday.
Austria, Iceland and Italy also have postponed or restricted their rollouts of the vaccine based on the same concerns. Health authorities have pointed out that they haven’t yet established a clear link between the AstraZeneca jab and the reported medical issues that patients suffered.
The World Health Organization has said the vaccine is still considered safe to use and hasn’t been proven to cause blood clotting.
Seven people died shortly after receiving their Covid-19 shots in the first week of South Korea’s vaccine rollout, which began on February 26. All seven cases involved the AstraZeneca vaccine, and 17 others who received the jab had severe, non-fatal reactions. Since then, there have been 46 more severe reactions, but no additional deaths, and nearly 562,000 people have received the shot, according to government data. South Korean health authorities have reportedly found no evidence that the deaths were caused by the vaccine.
