Some European countries have suspended using certain batches of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines due to blood clot concerns. Still, the vaccine had already proved its safety in clinical trials, a local health expert said.
Several countries have temporarily suspended the AZ vaccine with batch number ABV 5300, but Korea did not import the vaccine with the same batch number.
The suspension came after Austria, Denmark, and Italy reported thrombosis-induced deaths after the AZ vaccine inoculation.
However, any link between the AZ vaccine and deaths has been confirmed.
On Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency emphasized that there was no evidence the AZ shot caused blood clots and that thrombosis was not listed as adverse reactions of the vaccine.
According to the EMA, only 22 people reported blood clotting among three million people who got the AZ jab in Europe.
On Thursday, the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that blood clots could occur naturally and not uncommon.
“More than 11 million doses of the Covid-19 AZ vaccine have not been administered across the U.K.,” the NHRA said. However, reports of blood clots so far were not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the general population, it added.
Blood clot fears in Europe have stimulated Korean people’s distrust of the AZ vaccine. However, health experts cautioned against unreasonable scare, saying the causality between the vaccine and thrombosis has not been established.
Lee Jae-gab, a professor of the Infectious Disease Department at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, appeared on a YouTube show on Friday and said that blood clot rates in clinical trials of the AZ vaccine were similar to those of natural occurrence.
“Thrombosis is frequently reported with a high incidence in Europe and the U.S. because there are many obesity and hyperlipidemia cases. Asia has a lower incidence of thrombosis than Europe or the U.S.,” Lee said. “The phase-3 study of the AZ vaccine also reported blood clots, but there was no statistical difference between the vaccine group and the non-vaccine group.”
In Korea, thrombosis could occur a lot in people who have been lying for a long time in nursing hospitals, but they do not need to worry about blood clotting because they are taking anticoagulants, Lee went on to say.
Lee stressed that the incidence of thrombosis among people vaccinated with the AZ jab was not higher than the incidence that would have occurred in the general population.
“Immediately after Austria suspended the use of the AZ vaccine with a certain batch number, the EMA also stressed that there was no link between blood clot cases and the vaccine’s adverse reactions,” he said.
At a regular Covid-19 briefing on Friday, Son Young-rae, a senior health official, said that there had been no reports of blood clotting after the AZ vaccine inoculation in Korea so far.