European Regulators Find Possible Link Between AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine and Rare Clotting Disorder

(LONDON) — The European Union’s drug agency said Wednesday that it found a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and a rare clotting disorder but recommended that vaccinations continue in adults, saying the benefits of the shot still outweigh risks. The European Medicines Agency described the clots as “very rare” side effects. It said most of the cases reported have occurred in women under 60 within two weeks of vaccination — but based on the currently available evidence, it was not able to identify specific risk factors. Experts reviewed several dozen cases that came mainly from Europe and the United Kingdom, where around 25 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. “The reported cases of unusual blood clotting following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine should be listed as possible side effects of the vaccine,” said Emer Cooke, the agency’s executive director. But it placed no new age restrictions on using the vaccine in people 18 and over, as some countries have done. “The risk of mortality from COVID is much greater than the risk of mortality from these side effects.,” Cooke said. The EMA, the World Health Organization and numerous other health authorities have said repeatedly that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective and that the protection it offers against COVID-19 outweighs the small risks of rare blood clots — a message the EMA repeated Wed...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news