For the time being, no more Astrazeneca vaccine for Denmark: In the neighboring country of Germany, the administration of the corona vaccine will be stopped.
Copenhagen - In Denmark, no one is temporarily vaccinated with the corona vaccine from the British-Swedish company Astrazeneca.
The reason for this are reports of serious cases of blood clots in people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19, the Danish health administration announced on Thursday.
Corona: Denmark is temporarily suspending vaccinations with Astrazeneca vaccine
The European drug authorities have initiated an investigation of the vaccine against the background.
One report relates to a death in Denmark.
At this point in time, however, it was not yet possible to conclusively determine whether there was a connection between the vaccine and the blood clots.
According to the authorities, the stop will initially last 14 days, after which it will be seen how it continues.
According to the Danish government, it is important to underline that the Astrazeneca vaccine is not rejected, but the administration is paused.
It is well documented that the drug is both safe and effective.
However, one has to respond to reports of possible serious side effects.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the news was annoying as one was incredibly dependent on everyone being vaccinated.
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In Denmark, the Astrazeneca vaccine is being dispensed with for the time being.
© Fabio Cimaglia / imago-images
Corona: New data on the effectiveness of Astrazeneca - "Vaccine prevents the disease very well"
For Astrazeneca, developments in Denmark are a slap in the face.
The Swedish-British company is currently struggling with an image problem anyway.
Delivery difficulties, side effects and a probably lower effectiveness than other vaccines do not put Astrazeneca in a good light.
The 70 percent effectiveness announced in November was actually not a bad interim result, but in the end it was comparatively significantly behind other vaccines that had more than 90 percent to show.
As a result, vaccinations with Astrazeneca were only permitted in Germany for people under 65 years of age, but this has now been revised.
Because according to current studies, the vaccine does provide adequate protection against corona infection.
"The data show that the vaccine prevents the disease very well," says Bernd Salzberger, an infectiologist at the Regensburg University Hospital and chairman of the German Society for Infectious Diseases, about the current state of research.
Astrazeneca also hit the headlines recently in Austria.
After complications after vaccination, there was speculation about a connection with the Swedish-British vaccine.
According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), however, there is currently no evidence that the death of a nurse from the state clinic in Zwettl or the pulmonary embolism of her colleague were caused by the Astrazeneca vaccination.
Corona: Lowest trust in Astrazeneca - Biontech / Pfizer in front
Nevertheless, Astrazeneca is still struggling with a lack of acceptance.
According to a YouGov poll, two thirds of Germans (66 percent) say that they think the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine is safe.
Only 43 percent gave this information for the vaccine from Astrazeneca and 54 percent for that from Moderna.
27 percent of the German respondents do not want to be vaccinated with the Astrazeneca vaccine and wait until they are offered another vaccine.
35 percent would be vaccinated with it.
At Moderna, 49 percent and at Biontech / Pfizer 61 percent.
The Astrazeneca vaccine also has acceptance problems in countries other than Germany.
Only 33 percent of those questioned in France say that the vaccine is safe.
In the USA this is 42 percent, in Italy it is 54 percent and in Spaniards 59 percent.
Corona: Denmark's vaccination strategy is more advanced than that of Germany
In Denmark, a country of around 5.8 million, around 560,000 people have received their first dose of corona vaccine so far, and almost 220,000 also their second.
Astrazeneca was used in around 142,000 people who had been vaccinated.
The vaccine from Pfizer / Biontech was used in more than 70 percent of the vaccinations administered to date, and in four percent that from Moderna.
The vaccination campaign in Denmark started more quickly than in Germany and most other European countries.
According to the Robert Koch Institute on Wednesday (March 10), around 5.5 million people in Germany are currently vaccinated first and 2.6 million second.
This corresponds to a proportion of the population of 6.7 and 3.1 percent respectively.
In Denmark the value is 9.6 and 3.8 percent.
(as / dpa)
List of rubric lists: © Fabio Cimaglia / imago-images