GENEVA, March 20, 2021 (BSS/TASS) – The World Health Organizations’ Global
Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety ruled that the benefits of vaccination
with the UK-Swedish AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks.
“The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (including Covishield) continues to have
a positive benefit-risk profile, with tremendous potential to prevent
infections and reduce deaths across the world,” the committee said in a
statement, published Friday.
The document underscored that the Committee reviewed the information on
AstraZeneca vaccine safety from Europe, India and other states of the world.
Based on the “careful scientific review of the available information,” the
Committee concluded that the data “do not suggest any overall increase in
clotting conditions such as deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.”
“Reported rates of thromboembolic events after COVID-19 vaccines are in
line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions,” the experts
noted.
The Committee recommended all countries to continue monitoring the safety
of all COVID-19 vaccines. It also agreed with the European Medicines Agency’s
plans to further investigate and monitor for negative consequences of taking
these vaccines.
Earlier, a number of countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca
vaccines over reports of blood clots appearing in patients’ major blood
vessels after vaccinations. In turn, AstraZeneca published a document,
stating the safety of its vaccine underscoring that it made its safety
conclusions based on examination of over 17 million people, vaccinate in the
EU and the UK. On March 18, the EU regulator deemed the vaccine safe and
efficient.