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Amsterdam (AP) - After examining very rare cases of cerebral vein thrombosis, the EU Medicines Agency (EMA) has given the go-ahead for the corona vaccine from the US manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.
However, the active ingredient can actually trigger blood clots in very rare cases, the EMA announced in Amsterdam.
Experts had re-examined the preparation after eight cases of blood clots after vaccination in the United States.
The EMA maintains that the benefits of the vaccine to prevent Covid-19 should be rated higher than the risks of side effects.
But the possibility of blood clots with a very low number of platelets is now registered as a rare side effect.
According to the experts, most of the cases involved women under 60 years of age.
The thrombosis, predominantly in the cerebral veins, had occurred within three weeks of vaccination.
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A week ago, the US temporarily suspended use of the drug.
Eight cases of thrombosis occurred after about seven million vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson preparation in the USA.
In the EU, delivery of the vaccine only started last week.
Numerous EU countries followed the manufacturer's recommendation to wait for the expert's report before using it.
The vaccine was developed by the Dutch Johnson subsidiary Janssen.
The vaccine is handy, effective, and only requires one dose.
The EU Commission has already ordered vaccination doses for 200 million people.
Germany would receive 36.7 million of this.
It is the second time that the EMA is re-examining a corona vaccine after approval.
Cerebral vein thrombosis had also occurred with the active ingredient from the Swedish-British manufacturer Astrazeneca, especially in younger women.
The cases with the Johnson preparation are very similar to those with the Covid-19 vaccine from Astrazeneca, the experts have now also determined.
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In the case of the Astrazeneca preparation, the EMA stuck to its assessment that the vaccine was safe.
The blood clots had occurred in about 1 person in 100,000.
However, some states decided to only vaccinate people over the age of 60 with Astrazeneca.
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