PANDEMIC: Health authorities in Norway invoked the precautionary principle after death linked to thrombosis following the AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19
The Norwegian health authorities in turn announced on Thursday the suspension “as a precaution” of AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19, following in the footsteps of Denmark, which took a similar decision due to fears related to the formation of blood clots. “We are taking a break in Norway from vaccination with AstraZeneca,” senior National Institute of Public Health official Geir Bukholm told a press conference. “We are awaiting information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case of blood clots.”
A “well-tolerated” vaccine?
“This is the precautionary principle”, assured Geir Bukholm, stressing that no link had at this stage been established between the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory and the cases of thrombosis, including one fatal, reported in Denmark. . Denmark, quickly followed by Iceland, had announced a similar decision earlier, also invoking the precautionary principle.
For its part, AstraZeneca, which developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, defended the safety of its product. “The safety of the vaccine has been extensively studied in phase III clinical trials and the data […] confirm that the vaccine was generally well-tolerated,” a spokesperson for the group told AFP. The British government has also deemed the vaccine “safe” and “effective”.
