The link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a “rare” risk of thrombosis has now been established.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) would like to point out that the risk / benefit balance continues to weigh "largely" in favor of the use of AstraZeneca's anti-Covid vaccine.
While the European Medicines Agency must meet on the file from this Tuesday and until April 9, Rogerio Pinto de Sa Gaspar, WHO director in charge of regulation, insists that in l current state of knowledge, the risk / benefit balance "remains very largely positive".
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AstraZeneca and thrombosis: the European Medicines Agency "has not yet reached a conclusion"
"These advantages are really very important in terms of reduction of mortality among the populations which are vaccinated", underlines it on the occasion of a WHO press briefing devoted to the World Health Day.
Rogerio Pinto de Sa Gaspar believes that experts and the media alike have “too much” a tendency to focus only on risks.
"We need to restore the balance (of our message) with the benefits of the vaccine," he insists.
The conclusions of the EMA expected Wednesday or Thursday
Earlier today, an EMA official spoke of the existence of a "link" between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the cases of thrombosis observed after its administration, in an interview with the Italian daily Il Messaggero published on Tuesday.
In the process the EU agency published an update: the EMA security committee "has not yet reached a conclusion and the examination is underway".
"We will communicate and organize a press point as soon as the examination is finalized", added the European regulator, specifying that an announcement is for the moment expected Wednesday or Thursday, at the end of the meeting of the committee mentioned by the doctor Pinto by Sa Gaspar.
For several weeks, suspicions have appeared about possible serious side effects, but rare, in people vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
Several dozen cases of atypical thrombosis have already been identified, several of which have resulted in death.
In the UK, there have been 30 cases and seven deaths out of a total of 18.1 million doses administered as of March 24.
In France, since the start of vaccination, twelve cases including four deaths have been recorded, out of more than 2.5 million injections of the vaccine developed by the Swedish laboratory with the University of Oxford.
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As a precaution, several countries have decided to no longer administer this vaccine below a certain age, such as France, Germany and Canada.
Norway and Denmark have suspended its use altogether for now.
For its part, AstraZeneca assured in March that there was "no evidence of aggravated risk", and assured Saturday that "patient safety" was its "main priority".
