France and Germany latest EU nations to suspend AstraZeneca jab

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Indonesia and the Netherlands have become the latest countries to suspend their AstraZeneca vaccine roll-out today over blood clot fears. The decisions have been made despite the World Health Organisation (WHO), both the EU and UK’s medical regulators and AstraZeneca itself all insisting that there is no evidence of a causal link between getting the vaccine and developing clots.

President Emmanuel Macron says that French authorities are suspending shots until at least Tuesday afternoon, when he expects to have received more guidance from Europe’s medical regulator, the EMA.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn, acknowledged, “we are all very aware of the implications of this decision.” But, while the move was “not an easy one to make”, he felt it a necessary precaution following seven reports of brain thrombosis in Germany, which could be related to AstraZeneca vaccinations.

There have been several other cases of people developing blood clots within days of getting their AstraZeneca jab in Denmark, Austria, Germany and Norway.

Thailand announced today that it will be resuming its (temporarily halted) roll-out but the Oxford vaccine remains on hold in the Irish Republic, Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria, Iceland and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several other European countries, including Austria and Luxembourg, have suspended the use of certain batches, as a precautionary measure while the EMA thoroughly investigates individual blood clot cases.

Around 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and there have been 37 cases of blood clots reported as of last week. AstraZeneca and other medical experts are keen to point out that blood clots are not uncommon and this number of cases is actually lower than one would expect to see in the general population.

Professor Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chairman of the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) says: “We have to remember that there are 3,000 blood clots a month on average in the general population and because we’re immunising so many people, we are bound to see blood clots at the same time as the vaccination, and that’s not because they are due to the vaccination”.

The WHO pointed out today that “it is normal for countries to signal potential adverse events” and “it’s good practice to investigate them”. However, it also reiterated that there is “no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine” and insisted that roll-out suspension is unnecessary. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the WHO’s working group on Covid vaccines has said that pausing AstraZeneca vaccination in this way is “highly undesirable” and could undermine the rollout and cost lives.

Boris Johnson sought to reassure the British public of the Oxford vaccine’s safety this afternoon, insisting that the UK’s medical regulator, the MHRA is “one of the toughest and most experienced regulators in the world” and “they see no reason at all to discontinue the vaccination programme.”