The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has advised vaccination authorities to suspend temporarily administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine to pregnant women over side effects
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2021) The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has advised vaccination authorities to suspend temporarily administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine to pregnant women over side effects.
"Anvisa recommends that the National Immunization Program follow the indication of the leaflet for the AstraZeneca vaccine. This recommendation is the result of monitoring of adverse events done constantly on vaccines in use in the country," the agency said.
Following Anvisa's note, the states of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro temporarily stopped using AstraZeneca's vaccine in pregnant women with risk factors. The suspension will be maintained until further notice from the Ministry of Health.
The ministry, in turn, said that it is investigating the death of a pregnant woman in Rio de Janeiro. According to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, she died after being given an AstraZeneca shot.
Fiocruz is a public health institute responsible for the production and distribution of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on the territory of Brazil. At the moment, neither AstraZeneca nor Fiocruz have commented on the situation.
