The EU refused to decide on the use of the British-Swedish vaccine AstraZeneca and left it at the mercy of the authorities of the countries of the union. This was announced at a briefing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
EMA has postponed the decision to use the drug until Thursday, March 18. In addition, the regulator has not yet indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine provokes the formation of blood clots.
EMA also saw no contradictions in the fact that the agency approved the vaccine, and a number of EU countries suspended its use. The spokesman for the European Commission said that countries have the right to do so. “Countries apply the EMA recommendations, but they have the right to follow a more strict approach. I do not think there is a contradiction in this,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
Already 20 European countries have decided to ban the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The authorities of Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, France and Estonia have partially or completely stopped vaccination. 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.