(Adds background)
COPENHAGEN, March 20 (Reuters) - Denmark on Saturday
reported two cases of hospital staff with blood clots and
cerebral haemorrhage after receiving the AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccination.
The Capital Region of Denmark, the authority that runs
public hospitals in Copenhagen, said that one of the hospital
staff had died and both had received the AstraZeneca vaccine
less than 14 days before getting ill.
The Danish medicines agency confirmed it had received two
'serious reports', without giving further details.
There were no details of when the hospital staff got ill.
Some countries including Germany and France this week
reversed their decision to temporarily pause use of the
AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of cases of rare brain blood
clots sent scientists and governments scrambling to determine
any link.
Denmark, which put use of the vaccine on hold on March 11,
has not yet resumed use.
The European Union's drug watchdog said on Thursday it is
still convinced the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks
following an investigation into reports of blood clots that
prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its
use.
European Medicines Agency (EMA) director Emer Cooke said on
Thursday the watchdog could not definitively rule out a link
between blood clot incidents and the vaccine in its
investigation into 30 cases of a rare blood clotting condition.
But she said the "clear" conclusion of the review was that
the benefits in protecting people from the risk of death or
hospitalisation outweighs the possible risks. The issue deserves
further analysis, the EMA said.
AstraZeneca, which developed the shot with Oxford
University, has said a review covering more than 17 million
people who had received its shots in the EU and Britain had
found no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen,
Editing by Alexander Smith and Frances Kerry)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
