AstraZeneca finds “no evidence” of increased blood clot risk from their Covid-19 vaccine

It comes after a number of countries temporarily suspended use of the vaccine.

AstraZeneca has said it has found "no evidence" of an increased blood clot risk in those vaccinated with its jab. At the weekend, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) in Ireland recommended that the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine be temporarily deferred. This recommendation was made after the Norwegian Medicines Agency reported four serious blood clotting events in adults after receiving the jab from AstraZeneca. Ireland's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn issued a statement over the weekend which read: "It has not been concluded that there is any link between the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca and these cases. "However, acting on the precautionary principle, and pending receipt of further information, the NIAC has recommended the temporary deferral of the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccination programme in Ireland." Authorities in Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands have also halted their use of the vaccine. However, AstraZeneca has said that a review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and UK with their jab has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia. They said: "So far across the EU and UK, there have been 15 events of DVT and 22 events of pulmonary embolism reported among those given the vaccine, based on the number of cases the company has received as of 8 March. "This is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed Covid-19 vaccines." AstraZeneca's Chief Medical Officer Dr Ann Taylor added: "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 pharmaceutical company also said that additional testing has and is being conducted by them, as well as independently by European health authorities. They said "none of these re-tests have shown cause for concern". It is not known at the moment how long the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout in Ireland will be suspended for.