Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

U.K. says AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Mar, 2021 04:56 PM
  • U.K. says AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe

The United Kingdom's drug regulator says a "rigorous scientific review" has ruled out the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as the cause of blood clots in veins but is doing a more detailed study looking at blood clots in the brain.

The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency says its advice remains that the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh any risks.

Health Canada officials are currently attending a meeting of the European Medicines Agency, which is set to issue a report on blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine today.

Many European countries halted use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after there were reports of blood clots in about three dozen patients.

Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says Canada is monitoring all the evidence closely.

Health Canada has so far said the vaccine's benefits are strong and has not seen evidence to link the vaccine to blood clots in a small number of patients after they got it.

"The fact is that all four COVID-19 vaccines authorized by Health Canada meet our country’s high standards for safety, and provide a high degree of protection against severe illness and death related to COVID-19," said Njoo.

The U.K. review looked at reports of cases of blood clots, hospital admission records and doctor's patient files and concluded the patients who developed blood clots in veins are not caused by the vaccine.

They are looking more closely now at five reports in the U.K. of patients developed a rare blood clot in the brain, and lowered platelet counts following vaccination, but said the issue can occur naturally and there is no proven link to the vaccine.

Canadian provinces began administering 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Canada's doses are not made in the same place as the European or U.K. doses.

Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada, said last week there was no biological explanation to show a link between the vaccine and blood clots.

Thrombosis Canada issued a statement March 11 saying in general vaccines are not linked to the development of blood clots and it had no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine was any different.

AstraZeneca said it reviewed the safety records of 17 million patients who received the vaccine in Europe and the U.K. and found no causal link between it and blood clots.

MORE National ARTICLES

RCMP investigating explosions in Penticton, B.C.

RCMP investigating explosions in Penticton, B.C.
Const. James Grandy says in a statement that the RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit will help investigate two confirmed explosions and other potential blasts. Grandy says police are investigating explosions on March 7 at a local soccer field and on March 8 on the grounds of Carmi Elementary School.

RCMP investigating explosions in Penticton, B.C.

BC hits second highest COVID19 case count

BC hits second highest COVID19 case count
Of the active cases, 255 individuals are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 67 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation.

BC hits second highest COVID19 case count

No injuries after vandals loosen nuts on car tires

No injuries after vandals loosen nuts on car tires
Const. Gary O'Brien says the teen alerted his friends and may have averted a similar incident because a 17-year-old whose pickup was parked in the same lot received the message and before driving off, he found the lug nuts on a rear tire had also been loosened.

No injuries after vandals loosen nuts on car tires

Committee told of Chinese interference in vaccine

Committee told of Chinese interference in vaccine
The partnership was originally planned to be between China's CanSino Biologics and the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. CanSino had been given a licence by the National Research Council to use a Canadian biological product as part of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Committee told of Chinese interference in vaccine

Man pleads guilty to child pornography related charges: VPD

Man pleads guilty to child pornography related charges: VPD
Ryan Jones plead guilty to possession of child pornography and making child pornography available. Vancouver Police Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) investigators located over 2,300 images and 55 videos of child pornography. The ages of the victims in the material ranged from three (3) to 10 years old.

Man pleads guilty to child pornography related charges: VPD

Panel named to advise on new governor general

Panel named to advise on new governor general
Six people are on the panel, which was announced Friday by Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc. He'll co-chair the group with Janice Charette, a former high commissioner to the United Kingdom now filling in as clerk of the Privy Council while regular clerk Ian Shugart is treated for cancer.

Panel named to advise on new governor general