For comparison. Incidents of CVST in the UK as at 9 March were 3 CVST among those who had taken the AZ vaccine (10 million people), no deaths. 1 CVST among those who had taken the Pfizer vaccine (11 million people), no deaths.
The numbers being reported in Germany are, by comparison, much higher. I wonder if this is a diagnostic issue - is the UK accurately diagnosing CVST? Is Germany?
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However, Dr. Julian Tang, consultant virologist at the University of Leicester in the U.K., told the Science Media Centre that he remained unconvinced by the results.
He pointed out that the researchers did not match participants for pre-existing conditions — known as “comorbidities” — that predispose [people] to more severe COVID-19, including diabetes and hypertension.
“Clinical teams know that the coldest winter temperatures occurring in January or February can exacerbate all the comorbidities that predispose to more severe outcomes of COVID-19,” he said.
He suggested that further analysis of COVID-19 outcomes during warmer months would be needed to account for the differential effects of the weather on people with these comorbidities.
I’m not trying to argue the toss on this. Just pointing out that the findings of the study are not unanimously agreed amongst scientists.
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It remains the case that the data shows the UK variant is significantly more virulent/transmissible though, right? So even if it was not more lethal it would still result in more deaths because more people are likely to become infected?
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According to EMA it is safe.
https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/status/1371810454314618889?s=20
One for @Arminius but Medicargo (who I believe are Canadian) and GSK are starting phase 3 trials on their vaccine. If successful will this help ease the difficulties Canada are having in getting vaccines or will that issue be resolved before then as UK and US are likely to be heading into the summer with a significant portion of population vaccinated…
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Well, they consider it safe, for now. They’re going to continue to look at the data and make a further statement on Thursday afternoon.
Gotta say, I made this remark flippantly but it turns out that the issue might be the exact opposite of constipation going by the Pfizer numbers.
I kind of half want the media to make a deal of this (because it’s sort of amusing that it’s diarrhoea) but serious too because these are people’s lives. I also hope that the attacks on AZ do not lead to counterattacks on Pfizer, Moderna etc because undermining trust in any of the vaccines is a seriously bad idea at the moment. It should not have happened with AZ but just because it has doesn’t mean that the same should be done with the similar numbers from Pfizer and Moderna and whatever.
Maybe in the ‘back channels’ (ahem…snigger) word could get across to ask other countries to be a bit more circumspect before raising unnecessary concerns and point to the number of deaths from diarrhoea associated with Pfizer as something that would be unfortunate for everyone if it were to be highlighted.
Again…these numbers are not significant.
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I’ve been buried in work of late so only been following at a distance.
Is there any evidence, other than the odd Twitter comment / feed that actually pulls to shreds the current actions of the various European governments with regard to AZ?
I find the whole episode bizarre to say the least.
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It’s really bizarre, and indicative of how unprofessional the EU has behaved during the vaccination rollout.
There are two possibilities - either there is nothing to worry about and the EU are overreacting (or worse, politically sabotaging the vaccine), or there is an issue, and the EU are right to suspend use.
But even if it’s the second of those, the EU has not helped anyone by getting into a public spat with Astra-Zenica over supply issues prior to this. It just looks bad, and it’s a reminder why when it comes to science and medicine, you should not play politics.
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Actions have consequences…
AstraZeneca vaccine: Charities flooded with enquiries as Covid jab blood clot ‘fear factor’ creeps into the UK
EXCLUSIVE
Tens of thousands of people have sought reassurance over the UK’s leading Covid vaccine as more European countries halt its use over safety concerns regarding blood clots
March 16, 2021 3:16 pm
Tens of thousands of people at risk of blood clots have sought reassurance from charities that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe after more European countries halted its use – with many asking whether they can choose to have the Pfizer jab instead.
Those concerned about life-threatening conditions such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE), where blood vessels in the lungs become blocked, have bombarded experts with questions about the UK’s leading Covid vaccine despite assurances from global regulators it is absolutely safe.
AstraZeneca said a review of 17 million people who received doses in Europe found there were 37 cases of people who had developed blood clots.
Experts said the number of blood clots reported in vaccinated people is no higher than that seen in the general population – the risk of DVT or pulmonary embolism in a healthy person is less than 1 in a 1,000 per year – and the World Health Organisation urged countries not to halt programmes.
Despite multiple reassurances from experts and regulatory bodies a “fear factor” over the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has now emerged in the UK with charities inundated with enquiries over the last 48 hours.
Thrombosis UK said the majority concerned whether people with pre-disposed clotting disorders should get medicines that help prevent blood clots after having the AstraZeneca jab, and whether they should ask for the Pfizer jab instead, something the public is not allowed to do. Most people had general safety concerns and were just looking for reassurance, the charity said.
Thrombosis UK chief executive, Jo Jerrome, told i: “The charity has received a great many inquiries from very worried individuals in light of the action by many EU countries to temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccination. Within hours [of posting updates on the vaccine] we have received a reach of over 35,000 when most posts receive perhaps 500 to 1,000. So there is a great deal of interest due to concern by many of our supporters and followers.
“While overall I think we have managed to reassure the vast majority – and the comments on social media are 95 per cent thanking us for this reassurance, there are some who are very anxious and wondering if they can ask for one vaccine instead of another. We are repeatedly tried to reassure and explain that current evidence indicates both are equally safe and effective.
“We need to remember the risk of DVT/PE increases with age and that we are currently vaccinating the very oldest in our population. Based on current evidence of 37 cases per 17 million – who will be mainly over 60s – this is very low and less than the background risk associated in the general population.”
Eve Knight, the chief executive and co-founder of the Anticoagulation UK, said the charity had also been fielding inquiries about the safety of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
She said: “We have also received a lot of inquiries over the last few months from people taking anticoagulants who are concerned as to whether it is safe in general to have the vaccine whilst taking an anticoagulant. We have worked with the British Society of Haematology to develop some information about that which is available on our website and which we sent out to our extensive database.”
The WHO’s global advisory committee on vaccine safety will hold a meeting on Tuesday, while the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will also meet, with a view to publishing further guidance on Thursday.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, told a media briefing “we do not want people to panic”, as she said no association has been found so far between blood clots and Covid-19 vaccines.
EMA head Emer Cooke said she remained “firmly convinced” that the benefits of the jab outweighed any risks as an investigation into cases of blood clots in a tiny percentage of people is ongoing.
She said: “Vaccines for Covid-19 help to protect individuals from becoming ill, especially healthcare professionals and vulnerable populations such as older people and people with chronic diseases. This is a very important consideration in our assessment of the benefit-risk.”
I must admit I’m completely at a loss for it all. For such a thing to happen across a widespread area and from more than one person (i.e. it’s almost organised) there’s usually a perfectly valid reason for it. Here there really doesn’t appear to be one unless, unless I’ve missed something in my brief look at the data or it is as you say political sabotage. But even that just seems daft.
Far easier to screw the UK over Northern Ireland and trade I would have thought.
I’d be really interested in understanding what the reaction is in Sweden. Given AstraZeneca is a UK/Swedish company and Sweden is an EU member state, I’d love to know what the perspective is on all of this. Of course, Sweden has also joined the earlier countries in temporarily suspending the vaccine. Has AZ commented publicly at all? It’s been maintaining a dignified silence throughout most of this…unlike other parties.
I suppose the obvious question is whether these EU countries have seen evidence that we haven’t?
The numbers of over all incidents of thromboembolic reactions appear similar, except for the number of CVST incidents (this is the rare reaction that is of particular concern). Where the numbers differ is that in the UK, among over 21 million people vaccinated, there have been 4 cases and 0 fatalities recorded from CVST (3 cases following AZ, 1 case following Pfizer). In Germany they have linked 3 deaths from 6 or 7 cases of CVST from approximately 1.5 million doses of AZ (I’m extrapolating, I don’t know the exact number of AZ doses administered in Germany to date).
So the prevalence of CVST reactions are roughly 0.3 per 1 million in the UK (linked to AZ) but approximately 4 per million in Germany.
The rate in the UK is lower than you’d see in the general population whereas the rate in Germany is higher (you’d expect it to be 1.0-1.4 per million, apparently).
So is this a diagnosis issue? Is this a difference in production issue? I can understand why the health authorities would want to investigate but I think it’s a massive over reaction to suspend vaccinations as many more lives will be lost in doing so than saved.
Wasn’t there a suggestion of a “bad” batch of over 1 million doses distributed to 17 EU countries. I know if we make a contaminated batch, all other batches are investigated and the process train is deemed contaminated also. The product is not used until it is proven safe. If not safe then all batches which may be contaminated are then recalled.
Can a contaminant cause the issues we are seeing?
I don’t think it’s fair to assume this latest issue is politically motivated. By all accounts these latest decisions have been made by professionals doing their job. It is possible that this has been somewhat influenced by earlier claims over the vaccine, but I would say that we should see how it plays out before jumping to any conclusions.
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Couldn’t it just be that the health professionals in these countries are just being cautious,much like those in non EU countries like Thailand,Indonesia,Venezuela and the DRC,in not wanting perfectly healthy citizens dying as a result of being given what may turn out to be an as yet unforseen issue,either with a particular batch or the product as a whole.
there is every chance but on the outside, based on what I’ve seen there’s no logical reason to be more cautious with AZ over any of the other vaccines at the moment. Unless of course they’ve picked up something that we are not aware of.
There does appear to be some disparity between recorded numbers of people with problems between the UK and Germany based on @Kopstar’s post above. Perhaps it’s a local manufacture issue as you suggest above which would basically explain everything unless of course the manufacturing sources are mixed.
My gut says we haven’t had all the information yet but I find myself frustrated by the thought that yet again its more meat to feed the Daily Mail, Express etc.
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No, the EMA said that they had considered this and concluded that a contaminated batch was very unlikely.
The odd thing is that in most of these countries the medical regulator is saying that vaccinations using AZ should continue (as has the EMA). It is the respective governments that have chosen to suspend.