The Regulators Ensure Its Benefits, European Countries Will Return To Use AstraZeneca Vaccine

Vaccine AstraZeneca. (Wikimedia Commons / Gencat)

JAKARTA - Germany, France, and other European countries announced plans to continue using the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on Thursday at local time.

The announcement comes after EU and UK regulators increased confidence in the vaccine, saying the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks.

It is known, reports of rare brain blood clots have prompted various countries in the world to suspend the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine injection. This is a challenge amidst AstraZeneca's ambition to produce vaccines for the world.

The conclusion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), after an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders, was that the benefits of vaccines in protecting people from coronavirus-related deaths or hospitalizations outweighed the possible risks. Although it is said there is a link between blood clots in the brain and vaccines it cannot be ruled out definitively.

"This is a safe and effective vaccine. If it was me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow", said EMA Director Emer Cooke.

Within a few hours, Germany said it would resume giving the AstraZeneca vaccine starting Friday morning. Health Minister Jens Spahn said suspending vaccines because of caution was the right action until the classification of this very rare type of thrombosis was examined.

France has also said it will continue to use the vaccine, with Prime Minister Jean Castex saying he will receive the injection himself on Friday afternoon.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Italy would do the same, and the priority of his government remains to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

Spain said it was evaluating a possible resumption, while Cyprus, Latvia, and Lithuania said they would restart vaccines.

Many governments say the decision to stop vaccinations is due to caution. But experts have warned that political interference could undermine public confidence in vaccinations as governments struggle to tame more contagious variants of the virus.

"We believe that, after the careful decision of the regulator, vaccination can resume across Europe", AstraZeneca Medical Director Ann Taylor said in a statement.

EMA said it would update its guidance on the AstraZeneca vaccine, to include explanations for patients about potential risks and information for health care professionals.

The agency also said it was in contact with regulators around the world to monitor possible side effects of all COVID-19 vaccines.

"The EMA (ruling) now provides clarity about the safety of this vaccine, which must now be vaccinated at high speed after being suspended due to safety, to efficiently prevent the real risk, which is sometimes serious medical damage from COVID-19", said Clemens Wendtner, head of infectious diseases at the Munich Schwabing clinic.