Camille, a 32-year-old nurse, received a dose of AstraZeneca vaccine from batch ABV5300, implicated in the death of an Austrian nurse.
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JP PARIENTE / SIPA
Several European countries, including France, have decided to suspend vaccination with AstraZeneca as a preventive measure after the occurrence of cases of thrombosis.
To date, no causal link has been proven, and the European Medicines Agency is due to issue its opinion on the Anglo-Swedish vaccine this Thursday.
Camille, a 32-year-old nurse, received a dose from the same batch as that implicated in the death of an Austrian nurse.
She recounts her experience to
20 Minutes
.
Looming verdict.
This Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to issue its opinion on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is subject to suspension in several EU countries.
Monday, a few minutes after the announcement of the suspension of AstraZeneca in Germany, France aligned itself and also decreed to temporarily store in the cupboard (refrigerated) its doses of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine, relying on the announcement from the European regulator to decide what to do next.
Prior to these suspensions, Austria announced on March 8 to suspend the use of AstraZeneca lot ABV5300, after a 49-year-old nurse died of "serious blood clotting problems" a few days after being vaccinated.
A lot notably distributed in France and administered to eligible persons.
This is the case of Camille, 32, a nurse in an analysis laboratory.
“For more than a year, I have seen dozens of people scrolling every day who come to be tested.
So as soon as I had the chance, I got vaccinated.
I received my first dose of AstraZeneca on March 5, and then I saw that it was the famous ABV5300 lot ”.
How did your vaccination go?
Have you had any side effects?
As a caregiver, I quickly got an appointment at the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris.
Everything happened according to the classic protocol: I was received by a doctor who established my file, he asked me a few questions about my state of health, then a nurse gave me the injection.
Afterwards, I sat down for a few minutes, everything was fine.
I had flu syndrome, the doctor told me to take paracetamol every 6 hours I took it then, at night, I had a fever, pain, aches, like the flu .
I took paracetamol again and it finally passed.
I had heard that there were a lot of flu-like symptoms in young people vaccinated, so I had anticipated by scheduling my appointment for a Friday so as not to risk having to work with fever and pain.
The nurse told me that I might have a little pain at the injection site as well, but my arm muscle was really sore for over a week.
Afterwards, I told myself that if the reaction was so strong, it was because the vaccine triggered a good immune response.
How did you know that you had received a dose from the affected batch?
Are you the subject of special monitoring by the health authorities?
*
I had not paid too much attention to the information about the withdrawal of the lot related to the death of an Austrian nurse.
And on Monday, my sister sent me a message to tell me that the vaccination with AstraZeneca was suspended in France.
I looked at the lots in question and took out the document that had been given to me.
The batch number was indicated: ABV5300.
This is where I saw it.
However, no health authority contacted me.
A nurse friend who was vaccinated with me also received a dose of this batch, and although she works at AP-HP, she was also not contacted.
So a priori, no specific follow-up is planned.
Are you worried about the suspension of AstraZeneca after your vaccination?
I received my vaccine ten days before the suspension, and from what I read, the cases of thrombosis happened quite quickly after the injection, so I figure if he had to me something to happen, it would have happened already.
At the beginning I was a little afraid, but I inquired and I put into perspective: there are extremely few cases of thrombosis compared to the number of people vaccinated, there are even less than in the general population.
Considering the numbers, I have a better chance of winning the lottery.
And I, who have three children, was more at risk of developing thrombosis during my pregnancies.
But I would probably have been more afraid and more reluctant to be vaccinated if the cases of thrombosis had occurred with the very first injections of AstraZeneca in Europe, on a small number of vaccinated people.
There, with about thirty cases out of 10 million people, it helps not to be unduly alarmed.
Do you plan to receive your second dose if the suspension is lifted?
Do you think this suspension will undermine the confidence of caregivers in this vaccine?
I think that the caregivers who were ready to be vaccinated will not change their minds, and that the reluctant caregivers will also stick to their positions.
Among my colleagues, very few are vaccinated, although we collect infected people every day and are overexposed to the virus.
At the same time, many have already contracted Covid-19 and have had a serological test showing the presence of antibodies in their bodies, so they feel protected and do not feel an urgent need to be vaccinated.
For me and for my nursing friends who received the first injection, we wonder especially if we were vaccinated for nothing.
What are we going to do with us?
Are we going to be deprived of our second dose of AstraZeneca?
Will we be getting a second dose of another vaccine?
Or start all over again and get two doses of another vaccine?
What would annoy me is not to follow the initially planned pattern.
And if the AstraZeneca suspension is lifted, I will receive my second dose as scheduled at the end of May.
Your father also received his first dose of AstraZeneca [from another batch].
Are you worried about this?
Does he also plan to receive his second dose if the suspension is lifted?
He couldn't wait to get the vaccine!
He scoured all the GP practices around his home to get an appointment.
His first injection went well, so this suspension doesn't worry him more than that.
For him, it is a decision which is more political than health.
So like me, if the suspension is lifted, he will receive his second dose of AstraZeneca, and he would be disappointed if he didn't.
I remain confident and so does he: if this vaccine has been authorized, it is because it is effective and safe.
And except in specific cases, it is today the only one that can receive those under 65 years old.
We know that today, choosing the brand of your anti-Covid vaccine is impossible.
But we share the same mindset: we want to end the restrictions.
And to achieve this, the choice we have is to get vaccinated.
This is the only solution to resume a normal life.
Health
Coronavirus: France suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine until European notice Tuesday
World
Vaccination in Austria: A batch of AstraZeneca discarded as a precaution after the death of a nurse
* Contacted by
20 Minutes
, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) did not respond to our requests.
For its part, the day after the suspension of the AstraZeneca ABV5300 vaccine batch, the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM) indicated in a press release published on March 13 that an investigation was underway at European level, and that "nothing does not indicate at this stage that there is a specific problem with batch ABV5300 or that the vaccination caused these effects, which are not among the side effects of this vaccine ”.
“This batch has been distributed in 17 countries in Europe, including France which has received 316,800 doses since February 9, 2021, the press release said.
Almost half of these doses have already been administered.
Among the cases of undesirable effects collected in France concerning batch ABV5300 since the start of the vaccination, there are no cases of death, no cases of life threatening and there is no more cases of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia ”, recalled the ANSM in this press release published before the announcement of the suspension of AstraZeneca in France.
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