Skip to main content

EU agency finds no specific age risk for AstraZeneca so far

EU agency finds no specific age risk for AstraZeneca so far

EU agency finds no specific age risk for AstraZeneca so far

Experts probing links between the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and blood clots have found no specific risk factors, including age, but are investigating further, the EU’s drug regulator said Wednesday.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said however that its safety committee expected to issue an “updated recommendation” on the controversial vaccine after its monthly meeting next week.

Germany on Tuesday became the latest in a series of countries to advise against using the AstraZeneca jab for younger people after rare reports of clotting, despite the EMA saying it is safe.

“At present the review has not identified any specific risk factors, such as age, gender or a previous medical history of clotting disorders, for these very rare events,” the Amsterdam-based EMA said in a statement.

“A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and further analysis is continuing.”

The EMA statement came after experts met on Monday to discuss their latest findings on the AstraZeneca vaccine. Their comments will be discussed at the safety committee’s meeting next week.

The watchdog reiterated the view it gave in a keenly-anticipated statement on March 18, saying “its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation outweigh the possible risks.”

– 62 cases worldwide –

EMA’s chief, Emer Cooke, and the head of the agency’s pharmacovigilance and epidemiology department, Peter Arlett, told an online news conference of the cases detected of the rare clotting — cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) — following AstraZeneca vaccine injections.

ALSO READ: Ahmed Lawan yet to swear in Jarigbe Agom 5 weeks after Supreme Court judgment

They said there were 62 cases of CVST worldwide, with 44 of them in the European Economic Area (EEA) comprising the European Union and associated states Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Cooke added that the EEA figures did not count German cases recorded after March 22, and added that there were 14 fatalities in the region “but not all of them were associated with CVST”.

The figures they gave were from 9.2 million AstraZeneca jabs in the EEA region.

Statistics from Brazil, which also uses the AstraZeneca vaccine, were not included.

Cooke said that, while “at this stage of our investigations the link is possible” between rare CVST cases and the AstraZeneca vaccine, more evaluation was needed.

She said that the possible ratio of CVST adverse reactions “for the AZ vaccine based on spontaneous reporting in the EEA, it’s 4.8 cases per million”.

Comparing to the two other Covid vaccines currently deployed in Europe, she said: “For the BioNTech vaccine based on the same criteria, it was 0.2 cases per million. And for the Moderna vaccine, based on the same criteria, zero cases per million, but that probably reflects that there’s a lot less use of Moderna at the moment in Europe.”

[AFP]

Vanguard News Nigeria

The post EU agency finds no specific age risk for AstraZeneca so far appeared first on Vanguard News.


by Rasheed Sobowale via Vanguard News https://ift.tt/3ds0VoA Best Known Member of the Cabinet Wikipedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPDATED: Nigeria’s coronavirus cases reach 1,728, fatalities 51

  By David Royal The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 196 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,728. NCDC also announced that seven more fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. The NCDC, in a tweet at about 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, said the 196 new cases reported were; 87-Lagos, 24-Kano, 18-Gombe, 17-Kaduna, 16-FCT, 10-Katsina, 8-Sokoto, 7-Edo, 6-Borno, 1-Yobe, 1-Ebonyi, 1-Adamawa. The virus has spread to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Yobe, according to NCDC report, is the most recent state to record COVID-19 case in the country. According to the agency, Nigeria now has 1,370 active cases recorded as of 11:55 p.m. on April 29, while 307 infected persons have been treated and discharged, with 51 deaths recorded. READ ALSO: US says remdesivir shows ‘clear-cut’ effect in treating coronavirus “On the 29th of April 2020, 196 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

COVID-19: Transporters ask FG to set up N20bn intervention fund for sector

By Theodore Opara   Hiace AS the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact on businesses across the country negatively, Inter State Transport operators in Nigeria under the umbrella of Public Transport Owners of Nigeria Association, PTONA, has cried out to the Federal Government to set up a N20 billion COVID-19 intervention fund on a single digit loan of five percent interest to enable them to replenish their fleet. The association in a letter to Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Chairman Presidential Economic Sustainability Committee on COVID-19 pandemic also appealed to the Federal Government to grant its members 10 percent special concession on import duties on buses as against the present 35 percent duty being charged on imported buses. The association said the Federal Government should direct the Central Bank to prevail on all commercial banks to restructure terms of loan for businesses mostly affected by COVID-19 pandemic, especially the inter-state passenger transport. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Covid 19: Bowen University tasks government on post coronavirus fallout

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo   THE Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, has urged governments at different levels to prepare for the aftermath of coronavirus as he opined that life would not remain the same afterward. While alerting the government of the effect of the pandemic on the economy, he charged the people to brace up for the challenges post COVID-19 will pose for the society, especially in the area of human relation. READ ALSO: BRAIN DRAIN: Beyond minimum wage, give doctors welfare package — LAGOS NMA Ogunwole who disclosed to this while donating relief materials to the people of Iwo and Oluponna to cushion the effect of lockdown on the vulnerable residents of the towns, said the world would not remain the same as global economy would rely more on virtual interaction, hence, the masses must be prepared for the new reality. While noting that the school’s gesture was to support government’s efforts in alleviating the sufferings of ...
Post a Comment
Read more