Emer Cooke, head of the European Medicines Agency, on Thursday said its investigation had concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine was “not associated” with a potential risk of blood clots noted recently by some scientists, adding that the benefits of the shot outweighed possible risks. “If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow,” said Cooke.
EMA officials said they could not “definitively” rule out a link between potential side effects of blood clots. “A causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible and deserves further analysis,” the agency said. Cooke recommended an awareness campaign that aimed to “spot and mitigate any possible side effects” of the vaccine. Mario Draghi, prime minister of Italy, which was among the countries to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said it would resume using the shot on Friday.
Jean Castex, prime minister of France, said his country would do the same, adding he would also receive the jab “to show that we can all have total confidence”. Friday. He said it was good news the jab had been cleared but stood by the decision to suspend its use.
“EMA’s analysis confirmed our approach. It was important to suspend vaccinations with [AstraZeneca] as a precaution until the conspicuous cluster of cases of this very rare thrombosis had been analysed,” he said. “It would have been irresponsible to let doctors continue to vaccinate people without this information in our view. ”
Spain said it would resume administering Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines as of Wednesday next week. Carolina Darias, health minister, said this timing would allow the country’s health authorities to reconsider who should receive the vaccine.