Chinanews, April 8th, a comprehensive report, on the 7th, the European Medicines Agency and the WHO expert team issued a statement successively stating that the AstraZeneca vaccine may be associated with rare thrombosis.

However, experts emphasize that such incidents are very rare, and the benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine still outweigh the risks.

　　On the other hand, due to safety concerns, many European countries have suspended vaccination or adjusted the range of people who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.

On December 27, local time, many member states of the European Union officially launched the new crown vaccination work.

The picture shows a medical staff in Italy doing the new crown vaccination work.

Thrombus and vaccine may be related?

European Medicines Agency emphasizes that benefits still outweigh risks

　　On the 7th local time, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated that there was a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and “very rare cases of thrombosis”.

EMA said the agency's safety committee concluded that abnormal thrombotic symptoms with thrombocytopenia should be classified as a "very rare side effect" of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

　　However, the agency emphasized that the benefits of vaccinating AstraZeneca still outweigh the risks, so it is recommended to continue to vaccinate adults.

　　On the same day, after evaluating the latest global data, the WHO Vaccine Safety Advisory Group stated that there may be a causal relationship between AstraZeneca vaccine and thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, "but it has not been confirmed" and special research is needed to fully understand vaccination. Potential relationship with possible risk factors.

　　The committee said that more data is being collected and evaluated.

At the same time, it is emphasized that although this situation is worrying, it is very rare, "there are very few incidents reported among the nearly 200 million individuals who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca globally."

　　Portugal, the rotating presidency of the European Commission, said that it will convene the heads of the European Union's health ministries to hold a major meeting to analyze the decision of the European Medicines Agency to approve the continued vaccination of AstraZeneca's new crown vaccine.

Many countries adjust AstraZeneca's vaccination plan

European countries intend to use "mixed vaccination"

　　At present, many countries have adjusted the vaccination plan of this vaccine.

　　The British drug regulatory agency made a recommendation on the 7th to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 30, and this age group will be injected with Pfizer or Modena vaccine instead.

Belgium has decided to temporarily vaccinate people aged 18 to 55 with AstraZeneca and will replace it with another vaccine.

　　In addition, the South Korean government has decided to temporarily postpone the vaccination of staff in special schools and junior high schools across the country that was originally scheduled to start on the 8th, and suspend the vaccination of people under the age of 60.

　　In fact, some European countries that have resumed vaccination against AstraZeneca have adjusted the age limit for vaccination due to concerns about the risk of blood clots caused by the vaccine.

This makes some people who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine no longer qualify for vaccination. Therefore, they consider adopting a "mixed vaccination" plan to allow affected people to switch to vaccines from other pharmaceutical companies.

　　However, this has not been approved by the EMA, which means that any consequences must be borne by each country.

　　Germany took the lead in issuing guidelines on the 1st, suggesting that people under 60 who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine should choose other brand vaccines for the second dose.

People under 55 years of age in France are currently banned from vaccinating AstraZeneca. The French High Health Administration (HAS) may amend the guidelines that do not recommend mixed vaccination to allow people to switch to Pfizer or Modena vaccine when they receive the second shot.

Norway will also decide whether to resume the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in mid-April, and a mixed vaccination plan may also be launched at that time.

　　Some medical experts believe that the existing vaccines all use the viral spike protein as the antigen. Although there is no evidence that mixed vaccination is effective, it is believed that it can also cause the body to produce antibodies.

Prior to this, the United Kingdom launched a mixed vaccination trial of Pfizer and AstraZeneca in February, but there have been no results so far.