EU: AstraZeneca Shot Not Linked to Increase of Blood Clots
2021-03-19
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1The European Union's drug control agency says the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe.
2The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday announced its findings from an examination of medical records on millions of people who had received the drug.
3It began the examination following reports that a small number of people experienced blood system blockages, or clots, after receiving the vaccine.
4Last week, several European countries suspended use of AstraZeneca's vaccine as a result.
5The EMA spoke after an extraordinary meeting to discuss concerns among its member countries and others.
6Emer Cooke leads the EMA.
7She told reporters Thursday, "Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19."
8Cooke added, "If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow."
9However, she said the agency "cannot rule out definitively a link" between blood clots and the vaccine.
10The EMA said it looked at about 25 cases of rare blood clots out of 20 million people that received the vaccine by March 16.
11The agency said, "a causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible," adding that the issue should be studied further.
12The agency said that the number of reported blood clots was lower than expected in the general population.
13This led to the conclusion, the EMA reported, that "there is no increase in the overall risk of blood clots."
14About 13 European nations had suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of possible blood clots linked to the shots.
15On Thursday, Italian Premier Mario Draghi welcomed the decision by the EMA.
16He said Italy would restart AstraZeneca vaccinations as early as Friday.
17When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for emergency use in Britain last December, the shot was described as the "vaccine for the world."
18It costs much less than vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
19It also does not require extreme cold storage, making it easier to use in countries with limited resources.
20COVAX is an international program to deploy coronavirus vaccines to people around the world.
21It hopes to provide at least 2 billion shots, mainly from AstraZeneca, to poor countries around the world.
22Two other vaccines are approved for emergency use in Europe.
23One is from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other is a Moderna product.
24In the United States, health officials have approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for emergency use.
25AstraZeneca is planning to seek U.S. government approval in the coming months.
26Michael Head is a top researcher at Britain's University of Southampton.
27He worries that people may be less willing to be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine when the suspensions end.
28"This is at a time when we need to stop the virus circulating," he said, "to reduce the chances of further variants emerging."
29Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the World Health Organization's director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that countries should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine.
30He added, "We need to renew confidence, if it's lost, to restore it - especially for AstraZeneca."
31I'm Caty Weaver.
1The European Union's drug control agency says the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe. 2The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday announced its findings from an examination of medical records on millions of people who had received the drug. It began the examination following reports that a small number of people experienced blood system blockages, or clots, after receiving the vaccine. Last week, several European countries suspended use of AstraZeneca's vaccine as a result. 3The EMA spoke after an extraordinary meeting to discuss concerns among its member countries and others. 4Emer Cooke leads the EMA. She told reporters Thursday, "Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19." 5Cooke added, "If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow." 6However, she said the agency "cannot rule out definitively a link" between blood clots and the vaccine. 7The EMA said it looked at about 25 cases of rare blood clots out of 20 million people that received the vaccine by March 16. The agency said, "a causal link with the vaccine is not proven, but is possible," adding that the issue should be studied further. 8The agency said that the number of reported blood clots was lower than expected in the general population. This led to the conclusion, the EMA reported, that "there is no increase in the overall risk of blood clots." 9Resuming vaccination programs 10About 13 European nations had suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of possible blood clots linked to the shots. 11On Thursday, Italian Premier Mario Draghi welcomed the decision by the EMA. He said Italy would restart AstraZeneca vaccinations as early as Friday. 12When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for emergency use in Britain last December, the shot was described as the "vaccine for the world." It costs much less than vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna. It also does not require extreme cold storage, making it easier to use in countries with limited resources. 13COVAX is an international program to deploy coronavirus vaccines to people around the world. It hopes to provide at least 2 billion shots, mainly from AstraZeneca, to poor countries around the world. 14Two other vaccines are approved for emergency use in Europe. One is from Pfizer-BioNTech and the other is a Moderna product. In the United States, health officials have approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. 15AstraZeneca is planning to seek U.S. government approval in the coming months. 16Michael Head is a top researcher at Britain's University of Southampton. He worries that people may be less willing to be injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine when the suspensions end. "This is at a time when we need to stop the virus circulating," he said, "to reduce the chances of further variants emerging." 17Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the World Health Organization's director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said that countries should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine. 18He added, "We need to renew confidence, if it's lost, to restore it - especially for AstraZeneca." 19I'm Caty Weaver. 20Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 21______________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23option - n. a choice or possibility 24circulate - v. to move from group to group 25variant - n. a virus that is different in someone than the other 26emerge - v. to become known 27confidence - n. feeling or belief that something is good