Vaccination: The AstraZeneca vaccine has been injected again in France since this Friday but with slightly different methods
The French High Authority for Health (HAS) has given the green light to the resumption “without delay” of vaccination with AstraZeneca, but recommends reserving it for people aged 55 and over, in a notice published on Friday. This restriction was decided because the serious – and rare – coagulation disorders that had motivated the suspension of this vaccine in several European countries were only observed in people under 55 years old, specified by the French health authority. There have been three cases in France, she added.
This vaccine has so far been recommended for people aged 50 and over. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday judged the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory “safe and effective”, but “considers the possibility of a link between the vaccine and cases of disseminated intravascular coagulation (coagulation disorder) and of cerebral venous thrombosis (formation of clots in the veins of the brain, Editor’s note) cannot be ruled out to date, ”underlined the HAS.
Rare but serious
These pathologies are “very rare”, but “serious”, and have “nothing to do” with the usual thromboses such as phlebitis, explained Prof. Dominique Le Guludec, president of the health authority, during a presentation. press conference. As of March 16, 25 cases have been identified in Europe, resulting in 9 deaths, among people under 55 years of age “including a majority of women”. In France, one case of disseminated intravascular coagulation was observed in a 26-year-old woman, and two cases of “associated thrombocytopenia” – deficiency of blood platelets – in a 51-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman. All over 1.4 million doses administered, according to the HAS.
Pending “additional data”, those under 55 should be vaccinated with other products, those with messenger RNA, she recommends. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday that France would resume vaccinations against Covid-19 with AstraZeneca, after the conclusions of the European regulator. Several European countries, including France on Monday, had suspended its use because of fears raised in particular by cases of blood clots.
