Emer Cooke, director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), reiterated on Tuesday his confidence in the questioned punctures of AstraZeneca.
"We remain convinced that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risks," Cooke said in an extraordinary press conference in which he appeared by videoconference to explain the steps to be followed by the EU regulator, after at least 16 countries have suspended or limited vaccination with the Anglo-Swedish company's drug.
Spain suspends vaccination with AstraZeneca for two weeks
Spain ended the campaign yesterday with the punctures of AstraZeneca in a movement in step with the great states of the continent - Germany, France and Italy - waiting for the experts of the agency based in Amsterdam to speak.
The decision of the different national authorities comes after suspicions that the drug could be related to cases of thrombosis and embolisms, some of which have ended in death.
The EMA is in full investigation to determine if there is "a causal relationship" between the company's vaccines and the incidents detected.
To date, he has discarded this evidence.
But he intends to provide more detailed conclusions this Thursday.
Cooke has highlighted that the episodes have been detected "in a small number of people", when it is known that "many thousands" develop thrombi and embolisms annually "for many reasons".
These cases, at the moment, "do not seem superior to those of the general population," he assured.
Given the medical emergency, the EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee met this Tuesday in an “ad hoc” meeting, as explained by the director, with the intention of continuing with the analysis of the data that are arriving from the different countries “as we speak”.
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Cooke explained that the investigation does not rule out any hypothesis: some specific items are being tracked, the manufacturing process in European plants is also being analyzed, and at the same time the general and individual clinical information of the cases is being analyzed. reported by the different countries, in case the drug could affect certain subpopulations.
The director did not want to give figures for the number of cases that would be under investigation.
In a statement last week, the EMA claimed that 30 thromboembolic episodes had been reported after administering nearly five million doses in the EU.
The figure, he has hinted, would be somewhat higher at the moment.
And it has encouraged the population and medical authorities to report any suspicious cases.
Cooke did not want to assess the decisions of member states to discontinue vaccination with AstraZeneca.
"I understand that they are clearly awaiting our opinion," he said.
"It is a responsibility that we take very seriously."
The EMA is aware that the battle between skepticism and the credibility of citizens towards vaccines is at stake.
"Our job is to maintain trust based on proper scientific evaluation."