Prognosis
EU Regulator Backs Astra Vaccine as Safety Review Ramps Up
- EMA safety committee to meet Thursday and issue recommendation
- Regulator is worried trust in vaccines could be undermined
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The European Union’s drugs regulator reiterated that the benefits of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid vaccine outweigh the risks as it urgently reviews safety data following the suspension of shots by a growing number of countries.
The comments were the second from the European Medicines Agency in as many days, and come amid reports of blood clots in some people who received shots. Its intervention follows dramatic measures by several EU member states to halt the use of Astra’s vaccine, potentially throwing the region’s already slow inoculation campaign further off track. EMA executive director, Emer Cooke, said she was concerned that the government decisions could undermine public support for vaccines.