India says it has no concern about AstraZeneca vaccine side effects

There is no signal of concern regarding the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the country, said Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) of the Niti Aayog, on Wednesday amid speculations and subsequent review of possible side-effects of the vaccine.

"There are reports on AstraZeneca's vaccine relationship with thrombotic events in people who received the vaccine. But the European Medicines Agency (EMA, Europe's top drug agency) says that it (suspension of the vaccine) is only a precautionary measure," Paul said while addressing the weekly press briefing here. Paul added, "There is no data to believe, as of now, that there is a causal relationship, and part of the assessment is still being done. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the investigation should go on but they have said categorically that the vaccine scale-up and implementation should not be suspended in general."

This comes days after several European countries, including Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over blood clot concerns. Paul further informed that India's group, which looks at the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines, is aware of the issue and is tracking the information in a systematic matter. "I assure you that we have no signal of concern in this regard," he said, adding that the inoculation of Covishield, AstraZeneca's vaccine produced in India by the Serum Institute, will go on with full vigour, but will be mindful of developments in this regard.


Regarding the issue, Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA, had earlier said that the agency remains "firmly convinced" the benefits of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks of side effects, reported The Hill. As of March 10, the EMA had received 30 reports of blood clotting events from about five million vaccinated people.

The safety committee was also looking at "serious thromboembolic events" from the UK, she said. Sweden and Latvia on Tuesday joined Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway in the suspension of the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine.