ROME, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's northern region of
Piedmont said on Sunday said it would temporarily suspend
AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher from the
town of Biella died following his vaccination on Saturday.
The decision, following similar moves elsewhere in Europe,
was precautionary and the region was awaiting the results of
checks which will verify the batch that was used and whether
there is a connection between the death and the vaccination, the
regional government said in an online statement.
It did not say how the teacher died.
"It is an act of extreme prudence, while we verify whether
there is a connection. There have been no critical issues with
the administration of vaccines to date," Luigi Genesio Icardi,
head of regional health services, said in the statement.
Italy's medicine authority Aifa on Thursday banned the use
of one batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Sources told Reuters
the decision had been taken after the deaths of two men in
Sicily.
Aifa had said that the ban was precautionary, adding that no
link had been established between the vaccine and subsequent
"serious adverse events".
Authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended
the use of the vaccine over clotting issues, while Austria
stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots last week while
investigating a death from coagulation disorders.
The regulatory European Medicines Agency has said there is
no indication that the events were caused by the vaccination, a
view that was echoed by the World Health Organisation on Friday.
AstraZeneca also said it had found no evidence of increased risk
of deep-vein thrombosis.
Ireland also temporarily suspended AstraZeneca's vaccine
"out of an abundance of caution" on Sunday, citing reports from
the Norwegian Medicines Agency regarding a cluster of serious
blood clotting in some recipients there.
Earlier on Sunday, Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza
said vaccines in Italy and Europe were "effective and safe",
with all checks being carried out, when asked in an interview
about the ban.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Nick Macfie)