Another Country Halts Rollout Of Oxford/AstraZeneca Vaccines

• This is coming barely two months after South Africa rejected about 1.5 million doses of the same vaccine

Another country has suspended the use of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine adding to a growing concern about the vaccine Nigeria received 3.9m million doses of last Tuesday.

Authorities in Austria on Tuesday said vaccination with the Oxford vaccines in the country were halted as a precaution while investigating the death of one person and the illness of another after taking the shots, according to Reuters.

“The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) has received two reports in a temporal connection with vaccination from the same batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the district clinic of Zwettl.

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“One woman (49) died as a result of severe coagulation disorders, while another woman (35) developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering,” BASG, Austria’s health and safety agency, said.

A pulmonary embolism is an acute lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot. Currently there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination

“As a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued or vaccinated,” BASG noted.

The APA news agency quoted AstraZeneca as saying the company was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation, Reuters reported.

The company noted the vaccine had been approved by the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organisation based on a global clinical programme involving 23,000 participants.

This is coming about two months after South Africa rejected about 1.5 million doses of the same vaccine after evidence emerged that the vaccine did not protect clinical-trial participants from mild or moderate illness caused by the more contagious virus variant that was first seen in the country.