Ireland halts AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine shots as EU vaccine woes deepen

*Report indicates that growing nationalism is preventing Astra filling EU shortfall, just as Italy, Austria, Norway, and lately Ireland among others, have suspended the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine over fears of blood clotting

Emmanuel Akosile | ConsumerConnect

AstraZeneca Plc’s European vaccine nightmare is worsening, with a number of countries halting shots over safety fears as further delivery delays prompt governments around the world to hoard doses they’ve already got.

It was gathered that in respect of the vaccine ban, though countries have continue to roll out vaccination programmes against COVID-19 pandemic, yet there appears to be a loss of faith in the AstraZeneca jab as of now.

A number of countries including Italy, Austria and Norway, among others, have suspended the use of the vaccine over fears of blood clotting, according to agency report.

COVID-19 vaccination

For instance, Ireland Sunday, March 14, 2021, became the latest country to halt the administration of the vaccine, following reports of blood clots in adults who received the shot in Norway.

The country’s a Health Ministry spokesman told AFP that “the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is temporarily deferred from this morning, Sunday, 14th March.”

The move came after Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended suspending the AstraZeneca rollout “on the precautionary principal” after “a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination.”

Ireland’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn in a statement said: “It has not been concluded that there is any link” between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the blood clot cases and action has been taken “pending receipt of further information”.

Some 570,000 doses of Coronavirus vaccines have been administered in Ireland to date, according to government data last updated Wednesday.

A total of 109,000 of those doses have been manufactured by the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca.

In spite of the concerns over alleged blood clotting, the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer has restated that it is safe.

An AstraZeneca spokesman in a statement said the “an analysis of our safety data that covers reported cases from more than 17 million doses of vaccine administered has shown no evidence of an increased risk” in blood clot conditions.

“In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are lower than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population.”

Report noted that Ireland Sunday joined, on Sunday, a growing list of about a dozen countries moving to suspend the shot over concerns about possible side effects from two batches of the vaccines.

While Europe’s medicines regulator said there was no indication of any issues, reports of serious blood clotting after inoculation triggered a spate of suspensions stretching as far as Thailand.

The health scare was said to have emerged against a backdrop of further supply woes. The drugmaker’s efforts at making up for the European Union (EU) shortfall by sourcing shots elsewhere have hit a wall as governments around the world protect their own supplies.

Still, the US has rebuffed pressure to share doses, and is holding on to its Astra stockpile, even though the shot is not yet authorised for use in the country, according to report.

The drama keeps Astra at the centre of a political storm in Europe, weeks after manufacturing issues first put the two sides into conflict.

Meanwhile, the EU is falling further behind the UK and the US in vaccinations, creating a political crisis for the bloc’s leaders.

In addition to low yields producing less vaccine than planned, one plant in the Netherlands is still awaiting regulatory approval to deploy doses. The site, owned by the manufacturer Halix, is making the vaccine drug substance for Astra and forms part of both the EU and U.K. supply chains.