EU's drug investigators back AstraZeneca vaccine as safe and effective

EU's drug regulator backs 'safe and effective' AstraZeneca vaccine The EU's drug watchdog said on Thursday it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood clots that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use. Anthony Deutsch, Toby Sterling U.S.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The EU’s drug watchdog said on Thursday it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood clots that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) director Emer Cooke said the watchdog could not definitively rule out a link between blood clot incidents and the vaccine in its investigation into 30 cases of a rare blood clotting condition.

But she said in a briefing the “clear” conclusion of the review was that the vaccine benefits in protecting people from the risk of death or hospitalisation outweighs the possible risks.

“This is a safe and effective vaccine,” she said.

The agency will, however, update its guidance to include an explanation for the patient about the potential risks and in information for healthcare professionals, she said. ...

At least 13 European countries, including France, Germany and Italy, have stopped administering the shot pending the review, the latest blow to the bloc’s faltering inoculation campaign.

Britain’s medicines regulator said on Thursday it was investigating five cases of CVST among people given AstraZeneca’s vaccine but it also reaffirmed that the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks. ...