EMA Finds Potential Link Between AstraZeneca And Blood Clots

The European Drug Agency (EMA) said that it had found the possibility of the relationship between the Coronavirus AstraZeneca vaccine and reports of blood clots in people who had received shots on Wednesday. Safety concerns have pushed more than a dozen countries in recent weeks to suspend the use of the vaccine, which has been given to tens of millions of people in Europe after the report connects it with brain blood clotting disorders in several dose receivers.

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The EU Health Minister has been told that EMA’s decision on vaccine safety would have immediate implications for vaccination plans and requires a coordinated response, a letter seen by Reuters shows. The letter was sent by the European Union Portugal’s presidency on Tuesday to invite the health ministers for extraordinary virtual meetings on Wednesday, to be held immediately after the decision by the EU drug regulator.

The EMA announcement is a new setback for vaccine makers, which sells the shot at a cost, for a few dollars in dosage, and so far, it is launched with the cheapest and highest volume. After widely used in the UK and mainland Europe, it is set to become a mainstay of vaccination programs in most developing countries.

Experts say that, even if the causal relationship between vaccines and blood clots is proven, the risk of the general population to get serious lumps is very small compared to the risk of the possibility of Covid-19 infection, which can also cause similar lumps, or from many other drugs widely used as birth control pills.

Both EMA and the World Health Organization said the benefits were more significant than the risk of vaccines. “The risk of death from Covid is far greater than the risk of death from these rare side effects,” Ema Cooke, the Executive Director, said on Wednesday.

AstraZeneca said that previous studies did not find a higher risk of blood clots on those who were vaccinated than in the general population. But the shot had faced questions since the end of last year when drug makers and Oxford University published data from previous trials with two different efficacy readings due to dose errors.

Last month, AstraZeneca published the clinical trials’ initial results, which showed the efficacy at 79% but had to scramble to release more data after a rare reprimand of health officials from the US who said the data was outdated.

Scientists are exploring several possibilities that might explain blood clots. One theory suggests vaccines trigger unusual antibodies in some rare cases; Other investigators look for possible relationships with birth control pills.

But many experts say there is no definitive evidence and that it is not clear whether the AstraZeneca vaccine will cause problems not shared by other vaccines that target the same part of the Coronavirus. While many countries have continued using shots, some have imposed age limits, with younger women considered more vulnerable.