Ireland joins list pausing AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab rollout

Ireland has become the latest country to temporarily suspend administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears.

A vial of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. Picture: AFP

Ireland has become the latest country to temporarily suspend administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears.

A host of European nations have now suspended their administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the case of a 60-year-old woman in Denmark who died following a coagulation disorder that arose after she was vaccinated.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency said over the weekend that there had been four new cases of serious blood clotting in adults after taking the vaccine. No link has yet been established with the incidence of blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Despite the European Medicines Agency saying there is no reason to suspend giving the AstraZeneca jab, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia all suspended giving the vaccine, following Denmark’s lead.

The Irish National Immunisation Advisory Committee said it was suspending administration of the jab in the country as a precaution while reports of blood clots are investigated. No cases of blood clots following vaccination have been recorded in Ireland.

More than 110,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have so far been administered in Ireland, accounting for roughly 20 per cent of all doses in the country.

More than 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered across the UK, and there have been no adverse events recorded involving blood clots.

The UK medicines regulator has said it is safe to continue giving the jab.

AstraZeneca completed a review of its safety data in the wake of the blood clot reports.

It said that 15 events of deep vein thrombosis and 22 events of pulmonary embolism had been reported so far, similar to rates recorded following the administration of other COVID-19 vaccines. But it said there was nothing to indicate those thrombosis events were related to the vaccine.

“A careful review of all available safety data … has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country,” AstraZeneca said in a statement.

Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly last week also dismissed any link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clotting disorders.