EU medicine regulator warns of blood clots with Astrazeneca vaccine

April 7, 2021 Amber28 US 0

A door sign shows the batch of AstraZeneca vaccine currently used at a vaccination center in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. British authorities recommended Wednesday that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine not be given to adults under 30 where possible because of strengthening evidence that the shot may be linked to rare blood clots, a recommendation that came as regulators both in the United Kingdom and the European Union emphasized that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people — even though the European Medicines Agency said it had found a "possible link" between the shot and the rare clots.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A door sign shows the batch of AstraZeneca vaccine currently used at a vaccination center in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:34 AM PT – Tuesday, April 6, 2021

The European Union medicine regulator has warned blood clots are a possible side effect of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine. According to reports Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency said it found the vaccine carries the risk of causing “unusual blood clots.”

The agency reported 18 deaths in its review of 84 clotting cases reported in the EU out of around 25 million people who have been vaccinated. Despite the risk, the agency said the benefits of the vaccine outweighs the side effects.

“Our safety committee, the Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency, has confirmed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19 overall outweigh the risks of side effects,” stated Emer Cooke, the executive director of the agency.

In the fight against #COVID19, it is imperative to develop vaccines that will work in a real-world setting. Here’s what is needed to overcome the pandemic: https://t.co/pzrx3BlaZr pic.twitter.com/PXy7as8iFP

— AstraZeneca (@AstraZeneca) March 22, 2021

The regulator has commissioned more research into the link between the vaccine and the clots. According to the agency, a plausible explanation for the clots is an immune response, which was seen mainly in women under the age of 60.