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By Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik
OSLO, March 26 (Reuters) - Norway will delay its decision on
whether to resume the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19
vaccine by up to three weeks, the Norwegian Institute of Public
Health (FHI) said on Friday.
Authorities on March 11 suspended the rollout of the vaccine
after a small number of younger inoculated people were
hospitalised for a combination of blood clots, bleeding and a
low count of platelets, some of whom later died.
"We have decided to continue the pause and make a new
decision by April 15," FHI chief Camilla Stoltenberg told
broadcaster NRK.
"We have started several processes to map out whether there
is a causality and to have a better basis to establish the real
risk and a cost-benefit analysis for different age groups. To
get more knowledge, it is necessary to have more time."
Norway is one of over a dozen European countries to have
suspended the rollout of the vaccine over safety concerns,
although most nations have since resumed its use on the advice
of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The shot remain on hold in neighbouring Denmark however,
while other Nordic countries have decided to use it for older
age groups.
The EMA has said the shot's benefits in protecting people
from coronavirus-related death or hospitalisation outweighed the
possible risks. The World Health Organization has also backed
the vaccine.
AstraZeneca has said a review of safety data of more than 17
million people inoculated in the United Kingdom and European
Union with its vaccine had shown no evidence of an increased
risk of blood clots.
Norway has reported five cases in which recipients of the
AstraZeneca vaccine were later admitted to hospital with the
combination of blood clots, bleedings and low platelets, three
of whom have died.
A sixth person, who also got the vaccine, died from brain a
haemorrhage in combination with a low count of platelets, health
authorities have said.
Norway has been using vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech
and Moderna and hopes to use Johnson
& Johnson's once supplies become available in Europe.
The non-EU country is getting its vaccines via the European
procurement programme, thanks to Sweden buying more shots than
it needs and then passing them on to its neighbour.
Norway has had some of Europe's lowest rates of infections
and deaths since the start of the pandemic early last year, but
is now seeing a rapid increase in hospitalisations led by more
contagious variants of the virus.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche. Editing by Mark
Potter)
