Germany has suspended use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday, making it the latest of several European countries to hit pause following reports of blood coagulation disorders in recipients.
Spahn said the decision followed a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), Germany’s authority in charge of vaccines, following newly registered cases of thrombosis, including three deaths.
PEI President Klaus Cichutek said there were reports of seven people suffering cerebral vein thrombosis following vaccination and three of them had died.
“I think it’s justified to pause for a moment … in order to discuss these findings in a European context and to compare them with the European data,” Cichutek told ARD public broadcaster.
Spahn said on Monday the outcome of the review was open and he was counting on the EMA to come to a decision and recommendation ideally this week.
The EMA has said that as of March 10, a total of 30 cases of blood clotting had been reported among close to 5 million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot in the European Economic Area, which links 30 European countries.
PEI said people who were still feeling unwell four days after receiving a dose of AstraZeneca’s shot should immediately seek medical treatment.
Spahn said there have been seven reported cases after vaccination that could be related to cerebral vein thrombosis out of 1.6 million vaccinations in Germany.
Clemens Wendtner, head of infectious diseases and tropical medicine at Munich clinic Schwabing, said the background incidence, or normally expected risk, for this condition was two to five cases per 1 million individuals per year.
The Health Minister for the state of Thuringia called the decision to halt AstraZeneca vaccinations a disaster.