AstraZeneca defends vaccine after several European countries pause its use

AstraZeneca defended, Thursday, the safety of its shots after a number of countries paused the use of the vaccine. «Regulators have clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine, and that includes COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca», the company said in a statement quoted by CNN.

«The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in Phase III clinical trials and peer-reviewed data confirms the vaccine is generally well tolerated», it added.

This week, ten European countries announced that they have paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Denmark, Norway and Iceland have thus stopped the use of Covishield, produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII), over reports of blood clots.

Other countries, such as Austria, Italy, Romania and Luxembourg have also suspended its use. For its part, Thailand delayed the use of the vaccine on Thursday as a precaution.

Yesterday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that AstraZeneca's vaccine can be used despite the investigation of blood clots, concluding that «the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh its risks». 

It is worth mentioning that Covishield is also used in Morocco, as part of the national anti-Covid-19 vaccination campaign. So far, the Moroccan health authorities have not reported any serious cases or side effects of the same kind.