The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 outweigh negative data on it, therefore it is recommended to continue using it despite some EU nations' decision to halt the use of the vaccine, World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris said on Friday
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th March, 2021) The benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 outweigh negative data on it, therefore it is recommended to continue using it despite some EU nations' decision to halt the use of the vaccine, World Health Organization (WHO) spokeswoman Margaret Harris said on Friday.
The European Medicines Agency's risk assessment commission believes the benefit of the vaccine still outweighs risks,b and the vaccine should be used in parallel with the investigation into the cause of thrombosis, Harris said at a briefing. The WHO's Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is studying signals and will provide an update later, the spokeswoman added.
Harris stressed that Denmark, Iceland and Norway decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure. In addition, they halted the use of just separate vaccine batches, the WHO spokeswoman continued.
According to Harris, the cause and effect of the thrombosis cases is currently being carefully studied, as it is not yet clear whether such a reaction could be expected and how it is related to this particular vaccine.
As of March 9, 268 million doses of various vaccines have been distributed globally, and according to the WHO, no country has yet reported any vaccine-related deaths, Harris added.
