9 ms·

IMHO there's a strong political element to this. The EU and the UK are at loggerheads. The EU is upset that they couldn't secure enough vaccines quickly enough,

IMHO there's a strong political element to this. The EU and the UK are at loggerheads. The EU is upset that they couldn't secure enough vaccines quickly enough, and they sometimes think the UK jumped the queue. It's also about money. Why not divert the funds to vaccines manufactured in the EU? The Pfizer vaccines are made in Germany and Belgium. BioNTech is in Mainz in Germany. Further up the supply chains, both Moderna and BioNTech get a lot of material from within the EU. Companies like Lonza AG and several others benefit if the EU chooses these vaccines over the Oxford/AZ one.

jiofih 6y ago
> symptoms seen in at least 13 patients, all between ages 20 and 50 and previously healthy, in at least five countries are more frequent than would be expected by chance. The patients, at least seven of whom have died, suffer from widespread blood clots, low platelet counts, and internal bleeding—not typical strokes or blood clots Seems very political indeed.
AndrewBissell 6y ago
I love that people think money & politics might be in play in the suspension of vaccines, without considering what that might mean about the same decision makers' approvals of the vaccines.
korginator 6y ago
Europe's own official medical & regulatory agencies studied the vaccines and have authorized AstraZeneca for general use. This is from their Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/publi... The blood clots happened in people with very specific health conditions https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-benefits-still-outweigh-risks-despite-possible-link-rare-blood-clots https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/covid-19-vaccine-astrazene... Can't get any more official than this. If our EU states choose to block AZ after this, then it's clearly a decision based on factors beyond health & medical.

jiofih 6y ago

> symptoms seen in at least 13 patients, all between ages 20 and 50 and previously healthy, in at least five countries are more frequent than would be expected by chance. The patients, at least seven of whom have died, suffer from widespread blood clots, low platelet counts, and internal bleeding—not typical strokes or blood clots Seems very political indeed.

AndrewBissell 6y ago

I love that people think money & politics might be in play in the suspension of vaccines, without considering what that might mean about the same decision makers' approvals of the vaccines.

korginator 6y ago

Europe's own official medical & regulatory agencies studied the vaccines and have authorized AstraZeneca for general use. This is from their Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/publi... The blood clots happened in people with very specific health conditions https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-benefits-still-outweigh-risks-despite-possible-link-rare-blood-clots https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/covid-19-vaccine-astrazene... Can't get any more official than this. If our EU states choose to block AZ after this, then it's clearly a decision based on factors beyond health & medical.