AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine’s Benefits Outweigh Risks: WSJ

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AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine’s Benefits Outweigh Risks, Says EU

Wall Street Journal

The European Medicines Agency so far sees no indication that the vaccine caused a small number of blood-clotting incidents reported across the region, Executive Director Emer Cooke said in a briefing Tuesday.

The regulator is currently reviewing those incidents to determine whether they represent a broader risk. Ms. Cooke said the results of the review would be presented Thursday.

The vaccine, which was developed jointly with the University of Oxford, hasn’t been approved in the U.S. AstraZeneca is expected to apply for authorization for emergency use once it submits results from Phase 3 human trials conducted in the U.S. Those trials are due as early as this month.

Tuesday’s briefing followed moves by a number of European countries, including Germany, Italy, France and Spain, to halt use of the vaccine pending an examination of blood clotting in a small number of people who received it, which in a few cases has reportedly led to deaths. Officials in those countries said they were awaiting a full review of those cases, which regulators say have been less prevalent than expected rates of severe clotting in the general population.

Ms. Cooke said that blood-clot incidents remain very rare.

“Trust in the safety and efficacy of the vaccines…is paramount for us,” Ms. Cooke said. “We are worried there may be an effect on the trust of the vaccines.”

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