AstraZeneca: EU nations' suspension of jab criticised by expert

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Professor Lawrence Young who is a virologist at the Unversity of Warwick called the decision to pause the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout “irresponsible” and is extremely concerned about the message it sends about its safety. Countries like Germany, France and Spain have paused the AstraZeneca rollout over concerns it causes fatal blood clots but the professor pointed out the risk is no different when compared to other vaccines. Professor Young added that Europe was desperate to secure vaccines when they were newly developed but now seem intent on undermining the confidence in their own programme. 

Speaking to Euronews, Professor Young said: “I think it’s frankly irresponsible to pause the vaccine programme when you have rates of infection so high. 

“And the sad reality is that people will actually get sick and die from not receiving the vaccine, which as the World Health Organization says far outweighs any risks associated with vaccine safety.”

Professor Young was then asked his opinions on AstraZeneca supplies going to waste in places like Germany and the impact the pause would have on future rollouts. 

He replied: “Not only will it impact the practicalities of vaccine rollout in terms of all the people ready and poised to vaccinate individuals with supplies of the vaccine. 

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“But it also undermines confidence in this vaccine and other vaccines and we know that there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy around anyway. 

“And this just, unfortunately, will compound that and I think undermining confidence in a vaccine that is really effective at preventing people from getting sick and dying is very irresponsible.

“This is a strange decision because you can say exactly the same about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine if you look at the number of blood clots that have been reported in individuals receiving that vaccine. 

“There’s very little difference between that and the AstraZeneca vaccine and no direct link.

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“When you’re mass vaccinating millions of people sadly, the general population unfortunately have blood clots, strokes or heart attacks and there’s no increased risk for any of these vaccines. 

“So why select AstraZeneca above any other vaccine, it seems like a rather bizarre decision.”

European countries paused the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines after concerns were raised that it caused fatal blood clots. 

As of March 10, only 30 cases of blood clotting were recorded in over five million vaccinations across Europe.   

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The European Medicines Agency (EMA), who is responsible for securing vaccine contracts, urged countries to continue rolling out the vaccine. 

They were supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) but countries around the world continue to pause their rollouts amid concerns. 

The UK has vaccinated over 24 million people so far and will open up the next round of vaccination in the next few weeks. 

AstraZeneca and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) found no evidence the jab causes clots.

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