Portugal: Costa stresses that AstraZeneca vaccine suspension ‘mere precaution’

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Portugal: Costa stresses that AstraZeneca vaccine suspension ‘mere precaution’

7:52 CAT | 16 Mar 2021

Image: Lusa

– Portugal’s prime minister stressed on Tuesday that the AstraZeneca vaccine had been suspended in Portugal out of “an abundance of precaution” and expressed the conviction that it would be “all cleared up” by the end of this week.

“It is necessary that people understand what is occurring: these suspensions are merely provisional. The World Health Organisation is re-examining the data, the European Medicines Agency will make a statement by the end of the week, and it is merely a precautionary decision that has been taken,” António Costa said.

Costa, who was speaking to journalists in Porto on the sidelines of a ceremony on the launch of projects for new metro lines, made only a press statement, without the right to questions, in which he recalled that he himself had taken the AstraZeneca vaccine and eagerly awaits the second dose, which he will take in May.

All the scientific evidence shows that [AstraZeneca’s] vaccine is safe and an effective vaccine. I say this with the peace of mind that I am being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, have already had the first dose and am looking forward to my second dose, he said.

In a message clearly dedicated to those who took the first dose of this vaccine and the Portuguese who now see their vaccination postponed, Costa stressed that he was convinced that everything would be cleared up.

The Portuguese health authorities decided on Monday to suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine as a “precaution”.

The decision was announced after several European countries have also suspended the administration of this vaccine due to reports of the appearance of blood clots in vaccinated people.

The decision to suspend the vaccine administration comes just a day after Infarmed and the DGS declared that AstraZeneca’s vaccine could continue to be administered, stressing that there was no evidence of a link with the thromboembolic cases reported in other countries. Meanwhile, the country continues to use Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency.

Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Norway, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg and Denmark, as well as other countries, including outside Europe, have stopped the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as a precaution following reports of serious cases of blood clots in people who were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca drug.

The company has now said that there is no cause for concern with its vaccine and that there have been fewer cases of thrombosis reported in people who have received the injection than in the general population.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed that the available data does not suggest that AstraZeneca’s vaccine caused the clots and that people can continue to be immunised with this drug.

According to an assessment by French news agency AFP, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 2,661,919 deaths worldwide, resulting from more than 122.7 million cases of infection.

In Portugal, 16,694 people have died out of 814,513 confirmed cases of infection, according to the latest health authority (DGS) bulletin.

Source: Lusa