Sweden has stopped vaccination with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the country’s Ministry of Health.
The chief epidemiologist of Sweden, Anders Tegnell, said that the measure is of a preventive nature. Vaccine use will be suspended until the European Medicines Agency (EMA) finishes investigating the alleged side effects of the drug.
Sweden became the 20th European country to decide to ban the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Earlier, the decision to partially or completely stop vaccination with the drug was announced by the authorities of Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, France and Estonia. The reason was the occurrence of thrombosis in the vaccinated.
At the same time, the company announced the safety of the vaccine. AstraZeneca explained that a detailed study of the health status of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and the UK with the coronavirus drug showed no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia.