The AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine
- fionacsweet
- Mar 16, 2021
- 2 min read
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been suspended by the majority of governments across Europe, which further compounds the confusion of the inoculation campaign on the continent.
However, the bloc's main drug regulator said there was no indication that vaccination has caused blood clots as a side effect.
No country in the EU is on track to reach its goal of vaccinating 70% of its citizens by September. The head of the European Medicines Agency said today that regulators were still studying concerns about rare side effects with the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, there is no indication that the vaccine actually causes these conditions. The agency's executive director, Emer Cooke, said that they "are currently still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization, outweigh the risk of the side effects."
This reassurance created even more confusion in the vaccine rollout as this news came a day after several major European countries suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations. Hoping to prevent a further panic, the World Health Organization was quick to say that there was no evidence to suggest the vaccine is unsafe.
Millions of people have received AstraZeneca's vaccine with few reports of ill effects, and its prior testing again points to its safety. It is being sold using a nonprofit model and is far cheaper than other vaccines. It also can be stored more easily and has already started to be shipped to low and middle income countries.
We now just have to increase public support and trust in it, so that the people receiving the vaccine will feel comfortable and safe, and so people that are on the rocks about it before will now want to get it.
Have a good Tuesday!
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