Piedmont Region In Italy To Stop The Use Of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccines
Piedmont, the northern region of Italy, said on Sunday (March 14) that the region would cease using AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccines when a teacher died after being inoculated of the said vaccine.
The use of AstraZeneca vaccines was initially suspended in the region in order to classify and isolate the people who were vaccinated at the same time as the said teacher in the town of Biella, in the Piedmont region.
"It is an act of extreme prudence, while we verify whether there is a connection (between the vaccine and the reported death). There have been no critical issues with the administration of vaccines to date," said Luigi Genesio Icardi, head of Regional Health Services.
Italy's regional government said that the Piedmont region is still waiting for the decision from Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA), the country's medicine agency, and the regional health commission to decide on the issue.
On Thursday, AIFA had already banned the use of AstraZeneca vaccines included in the batch ABV2856, allegedly after the deaths of two men in the region of Sicily.
AIFA had said that the decision was just a precautionary measure, although there is no link yet established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the "serious adverse events."
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca disproved on Sunday (March 11) the alleged connection of the vaccine to the incidents and said that there is no evidence of increased blood clot risks according to a review of safety data of people inoculated with their COVID-19 vaccine.
"A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country," AstraZeneca said in a statement.
Several countries like Iceland, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands had also suspended the use of the said vaccine due to the clotting issues, while Austria had stopped the use of a batch of AstraZeneca shots last week amid the ongoing investigation of a death from coagulation disorders in their country.