The World Health Organization on Monday said that countries should continue using the coronavirus vaccines developed by British-Swedish co...
The World Health Organization on Monday said that countries should continue using the coronavirus vaccines developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca even as several European nations suspended its use over fears of blood clots, reported AFP.
“We do not want people to panic and we would, for the time being, recommend that countries continue vaccinating with AstraZeneca,” WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said at a press briefing.
Her comments came after France, Germany and Italy joined the list of countries suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with Oxford University, according to Reuters.
At the press briefing, Swaminathan said no causal link has yet been established between clotting and the vaccine. “So far we do not find an association between these events and the vaccine because the rates at which these events have occurred in the vaccinated group are, in fact, less than what you would expect in the general population at the same time,” the chief scientist said.
Mariangela Simao, WHO’s assistant director general for access to medicines and health products, shared Swaminathan’s views. “So far it doesn’t look like there are more cases than would be expected for the period in the general population,” she said.
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