Canada health regulators issue disclaimers for AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Canadian health regulators on Thursday, March 25, issued a disclaimer regarding blood clots that may form up in individuals who vaccinate with the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. In a statement, Health Canada said, “Today, Health Canada updated the product monograph - or label - for the AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines to provide information on very rare reports of blood clots associated with low levels of blood platelets (i.e., thrombocytopenia) following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine”. This comes after various European health regulators issued similar disclaimers. Also, due to this, a number of European nations stopped vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot.

As per the statement, Health Canada has issued guidance for healthcare providers, including warning regarding signs of potential complication and that it continues to work with international regulators to review all available information. According to the reports by ANI, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo said that as of March 19, there have been 2,530 reports of adverse medical events after immunization. Out of these, 320 have been considered serious.

Europe resumes AstraZeneca vaccination

Following suspensions from the scepticism about AstraZeneca’s safety, European countries once again resumed administering the jab to the population after receiving a “go ahead” from EU regulators and the WHO. The campaign restarted amid fresh lockdowns imposed across several European countries amid a surge of cases from the third wave. On March 20, one-third of France’s population was issued home confinement orders. Poland, which registered the highest COVID-19 cases since November last year also closed down businesses and banned public assembly. Germany and Italy witnessed a fresh extension of restrictions already in place to combat the rising COVID-19 surge. 

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca stated that its vaccine was found to be 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Also, it was 80 percent effective in participants aged 65 years and over. The AZD1222 jab showed 100 percent efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalization as per a clinical study on 141 symptomatic cases of COVID-19, the company said.