Amid AstraZeneca suspension, French PM plans to take vaccine soon as it's cleared

France’s PM Jean Castex recently said that he wants to boost confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine by getting an injection as soon as his government authorises its use again. On Monday, France had suspended AstraZeneca jabs while it waits for the European regulator to clear up any doubts about possible side effects. Castex said that given what is happening & what has just happened with AstraZeneca, it would be wise to get vaccinated very quickly, as soon as the suspension is lifted. 

The French PM added that he wants to demonstrate to fellow citizens that “vaccination is the exit door from this crisis”. 

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has defended its coronavirus vaccine, saying that its analysis not only showed “no evidence of an increased risk” of blood clots in vaccine recipients but a lower number than in the general population. In a statement, AstraZeneca insisted that its vaccine was safe and added that the company’s safety data showed zero evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in any defined age group, gender, batch or any in a particular country from the jab. 

EMA, WHO and UK back AstraZeneca 

The EMA has also clarified that there was “currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine...The vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while an investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing”. Additionally, the World Health Organization has backed the continued of the vaccine and said that of the millions of doses given out so far there was no clear evidence of an increased rate of blood clots. The WHO further added that the benefit of continuing to use AstraZeneca shot outweighed the risk. 

On Tuesday, British PM Boris Johnson also defended the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine saying that the jabs were “highly effective” in bringing down both disease and deaths. The British leader asserted that the shots are not harmful and were being used across the world. Writing in his op-ed in the British daily The Times, Johnson stressed that the vaccine was absolutely safe and “worked extremely well”.  

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