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The EMA disagrees, and this is a really foolish move IMO which will directly lead to thousands or tens of thousands more people dying from coronavirus across Eu

The EMA disagrees, and this is a really foolish move IMO which will directly lead to thousands or tens of thousands more people dying from coronavirus across Europe.

mns 6y ago
Well, the vaccine was halted in Germany because the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, which is not a political entity, had this to say: "Compared to the status on 11 March 2021, additional cases (as of Monday, 15 March 2021) have now been reported in Germany. Analysing the new data status, the experts of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut now see a striking accumulation of a special form of very rare cerebral vein thrombosis (sinus vein thrombosis) in connection with a deficiency of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) and bleeding in temporal proximity to vaccinations with the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. The data are being further analysed and evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Vaccinations with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in Germany will be suspended until the EMA's evaluation is complete. Today's decision affects both initial and follow-up vaccinations." These things are not done lightly.
- sid6376 6y ago
  While they may not be being done lightly, the reasoning is still based on legal concerns rather than medical ones. https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/1371829918338801669 https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/13718299183388016...
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severino 6y ago
Maybe this kind of vaccines under suspicion should be reserved for those age segments more vulnerable to the virus? This way we avoid deaths due to Covid and at the same time don't put healthy individuals at risk that would have only mild symptoms due to Covid.
- joaomacp 6y ago
  Don't know why you were downvoted on this. I agree - if there's a certain small risk of a blood clot complication, keep giving the vaccine to older people, that have a higher risk of serious COVID complications, and suspend it for younger people, whose benefit doesn't outweigh the risk.
KSteffensen 6y ago
In order to maintain confidence in vaccines in general this sort of thing has to be taken seriously. You can't say that the vaccines are perfectly safe and then have a bunch of anti-vaxxers shout that people are dying from blood-clots and no action is being taken. That would severely damage trust in the health authorities which would lead to fewer people getting the vaccine from any company, not just AZ. Better to stop everything, be clear that action is being taken, transparently evaluate the risk and then start back up or stop as appropriate.
Symmetry 6y ago
It's worth pointing out that if the population vaccinated with AZ had been unvaccinated instead, then given the base frequency of Covid cases and how often severe clotting shows up in Covid cases we should have expected several hundred cases of severe clotting in the same population. Which isn't to say this isn't a potential problem. The very fact that Covid causes clotting problems lends credence to the idea that the vaccine against it could do the same thing through an auto-immune pathway. But we're in the middle of a pandemic, this problem happens in at most a tiny number of people, and I'd take this vaccine in a heartbeat.

The EMA disagrees, and this is a really foolish move IMO which will directly lead to thousands or tens of thousands more people dying from coronavirus across Europe.

mns 6y ago

Well, the vaccine was halted in Germany because the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, which is not a political entity, had this to say: "Compared to the status on 11 March 2021, additional cases (as of Monday, 15 March 2021) have now been reported in Germany. Analysing the new data status, the experts of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut now see a striking accumulation of a special form of very rare cerebral vein thrombosis (sinus vein thrombosis) in connection with a deficiency of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) and bleeding in temporal proximity to vaccinations with the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca. The data are being further analysed and evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Vaccinations with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine in Germany will be suspended until the EMA's evaluation is complete. Today's decision affects both initial and follow-up vaccinations." These things are not done lightly.

sid6376 6y ago
While they may not be being done lightly, the reasoning is still based on legal concerns rather than medical ones. https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/1371829918338801669 https://twitter.com/leonardocarella/status/13718299183388016...
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severino 6y ago

Maybe this kind of vaccines under suspicion should be reserved for those age segments more vulnerable to the virus? This way we avoid deaths due to Covid and at the same time don't put healthy individuals at risk that would have only mild symptoms due to Covid.

joaomacp 6y ago
Don't know why you were downvoted on this. I agree - if there's a certain small risk of a blood clot complication, keep giving the vaccine to older people, that have a higher risk of serious COVID complications, and suspend it for younger people, whose benefit doesn't outweigh the risk.

KSteffensen 6y ago

In order to maintain confidence in vaccines in general this sort of thing has to be taken seriously. You can't say that the vaccines are perfectly safe and then have a bunch of anti-vaxxers shout that people are dying from blood-clots and no action is being taken. That would severely damage trust in the health authorities which would lead to fewer people getting the vaccine from any company, not just AZ. Better to stop everything, be clear that action is being taken, transparently evaluate the risk and then start back up or stop as appropriate.

Symmetry 6y ago

It's worth pointing out that if the population vaccinated with AZ had been unvaccinated instead, then given the base frequency of Covid cases and how often severe clotting shows up in Covid cases we should have expected several hundred cases of severe clotting in the same population. Which isn't to say this isn't a potential problem. The very fact that Covid causes clotting problems lends credence to the idea that the vaccine against it could do the same thing through an auto-immune pathway. But we're in the middle of a pandemic, this problem happens in at most a tiny number of people, and I'd take this vaccine in a heartbeat.