A woman receives an AstraZeneca vaccine (illustrative image).
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AFP
The British Medicines Agency said it had identified 30 cases of blood clots so far in people who received AstraZeneca's anti-Covid vaccine in the UK, stressing, however, that the benefits of the vaccination outweighed this risk. " very weak ".
The MHRA said in a notice published online Thursday that, as of March 24, it had received reports of 22 cases of cerebral venous thrombosis and eight other cases of thrombosis associated with a lack of platelets, out of a total of 18.1 million. doses administered.
The MHRA said it had not received any similar report concerning the vaccine developed by Pfizer / BioNTech.
Suspended in the Netherlands
“The risk of having this type of blood clot is very low,” she said.
"The benefits of Covid-19 vaccines continue to outweigh the risks", with vaccination being "the only effective way to reduce deaths and severe forms of the disease," she added.
More generally, "the number and nature of the side effects reported so far is not unusual compared to other types of vaccines in common use," she said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, is the subject of suspicion in several countries after severe cases of blood clots.
The Netherlands announced on Friday temporarily suspending injections of this product for those under 60, following a similar decision taken Tuesday in Germany.
In mid-March, the European drug gendarme (EMA) had judged that the AstraZeneca vaccine was "safe and effective" and that it was "not associated" with a higher risk of thrombosis.
He said on Wednesday that he had not found any specific risk factors such as age, sex or medical history.
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