translated from Spanish: Denmark definitively suspends AstraZeneca vaccine for abnormal cases

Denmark's Directorate-General for Health finally suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19 on Wednesday, which has been paralyzed for a month, considering that there is a likely connection between it and anomaly cases of thrombosis, that there are sufficient vaccines on the market and the epidemic situation in this country is controlled.
Health authorities noted that they are “completely in agreement” with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in which the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and effective”, although they recalled that the final decision is from each country and alluded to “general social perspectives”, explained the head of department of the Danish Medicines Agency, Tanja Erichsen.
“We now know that there is a possible biological explanation that the AstraZeneca vaccine can cause these rare cases of thrombosis”, said at a press conference the director of the Directorate-General for Health, S. Brostrom.
Brostrom spoke of a temporary connection between symptoms (low number of platelets, blood vessel clots and bleeding) and vaccination and an image “consistent” of cases both in Denmark and abroad.
In collaboration with Norway, the other European country that kept vaccination with AstraZeneca suspended, the Danish authorities have estimated, after studying their health records, that the risk of contracting these symptoms for those who have received the vaccine is 1 in 40,000 and that it cannot be reduced to specific age or sex groups.
He highlighted that there is evidence “sufficient” for the Danish authorities to react, although he added that Denmark does not refuse to be able to recover the vaccine in the future if necessary, should the epidemiological situation worsen significantly and health was pressed.
Delay in the vaccine schedule
The decision assumes that the 149,000 people who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca in Denmark will later be offered another vaccine approved in Denmark.
The vaccination schedule in Denmark will also be delayed by several weeks and the authorities now estimate that the entire population will have completed it by early August, rather than in the second half of July.
Denmark had been the first to suspend vaccination with AstraZeneca on 11 March, a decision followed by most European countries, although they resumed the process when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) assured that there was no evidence of direct relationship with detected thrombosis cases.
Some countries have nevertheless reserved its use for over 60s, such as Germany, Spain and Sweden, while Norway will announce in a few days what decision it will make on the vaccine, also suspended for a month
Denmark has recorded a dead man with that clinical picture, which includes low platelets, blood vessel clots and bleeding; and a couple of cases of deaths with similar symptoms that had not yet been analyzed by the end of MarchThe epidemic situation has remained stable for a month in Denmark, which last week had the third lowest incidence of new cases in the last 14 days, with 129.15 per 100,000 inhabitants, behind Iceland and Portugal.
In March, the Danish authorities began a reopening of economic and social activity, largely linked to the presentation of a certificate proving that it is being vaccinated, covid-19 has been passed or tested negative.

Original source in Spanish