Denmark, Iceland, Norway pause AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears

Nordic countries stop using AstraZeneca jab following rare complications that may have caused death in Denmark.

A patient receives the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination at a new vaccination centre at the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany. Picture: AFP

Nordic countries have stopped distributing the AstraZeneca vaccination following rare complications that may have caused a death in Denmark and other reports of adverse pulmonary embolisms and blood clotting.

Denmark, Iceland and Norway have “paused” the AstraZeneca vaccine while the adverse serious events are investigated for any links to the jabs.

Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Austria have also stopped using one batch of the vaccine, ABV5300, pending a probe in relation to a separate death in Austria of a woman with “severe blood coagulation problems” and some blood clotting episodes in others. This particular batch of a million doses was distributed across 17 European countries.

The sudden halt in using the AstraZeneca vaccine in the Nordic countries could cause a loss of confidence in the vaccine. The development comes as Australia will increasingly turn to the locally produced AstraZeneca vaccine, made in Melbourne, within weeks. A batch of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine destined for Australia was stopped following an export ban by Italy to reserve more vaccine for its own use.

Italy has also halted the distribution of one batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine, ABV2856, following the deaths of two men in Sicily.

Italy’s medicines authority Aifa said the halt was “precautionary” while the deaths were being looked at.

A 43-year-old naval officer died of a heart attack one day after receiving a vaccination and another man, 50, fell ill a day after his injection and died more than a week later.

The European Medicines Agency said the number of “thromboembolic events” — currently 30 cases among five million Europeans — was no higher among vaccinated people than in the general population and that the vaccinations should continue.

“The vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing,” the EMA said.

But in Denmark the health minister announced the cessation of AstraZeneca jabs as a “precaution”. Magnus Heunicke said an investigation would look at whether a serious side effect of the vaccine are the formation of fatal blood clots.

“We cannot yet conclude that there is any connection,” he said. “We are taking action early and this will now be thoroughly investigated.”

In the UK more than 11 million people have received an AstraZeneca jab.

The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there was no evidence the vaccine had caused problems, and people should still go and get vaccinated when asked to do so.

MHRA spokesman Phil Byran said: ”Blood clots can occur naturally and are not uncommon.”