AstraZeneca Response

Angie SzumlinskiAnnouncements, Featured, News

Following a recent concern raised around thrombotic events, AstraZeneca issued a press release to offer its reassurance on the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine based on clear scientific evidence. Safety is of paramount importance and the company is continually monitoring the safety of its vaccine.

A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.

Ann Taylor, Chief Medical Officer, said “Around 17 million people in the EU and UK have now received our vaccine, and the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population. The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting vaccine events, to ensure public safety”.

The vaccine has been granted a conditional marketing authorization or emergency use in more than 70 countries across six continents, and with the recent Emergency Use Listing granted by the World Health Organization, accelerates the pathway to access in up to 142 countries through the COVAX Facility. Stay the course, stay well, mask up, get vaccinated, and stay tuned!