EU, UK regulator shrug off AstraZeneca vaccine concerns

EU health regulator on Thursday said that 'no evidence' was found of any direct links between either AstraZeneca or Pfizer Covid vaccine and blood clots.

"The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion: this is a safe and effective vaccine," European Medicines Agency (EMA) chief Emer Cooke told a press conference after an investigation.

The remarks by the EMA come after the UK health regulator on Thursday also shrugged off concerns regarding Pfizer and Oxford coronavirus vaccines.  

Britain's health regulator on Thursday said it had found no evidence between Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine and cases of blood clots after several countries halted the use of its jabs over safety fears. 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) also said that they did not find any relation even between Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine and blood clots. 

"There is no evidence that blood clots in veins is occurring more than would be expected in the absence of vaccination, for either vaccine," said June Raine, chief executive of the independent MHRA, as quoted by news agency AFP. 

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Earlier, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has said that it had detected "no indication" of a major problem and the number of clots after receiving the AstraZeneca shot is not higher than the group of people who are unvaccinated. 

Also read | Trust in AstraZeneca vaccine is shaken in Europe

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday continued to urge nations to use the Oxford jab. 

"The WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is carefully assessing the latest available safety data," the WHO said in a statement on Wednesday.