EMA Discovers Possible Link Between the AstraZeneca Vaccine and Blood Clots

[경향신문]

The AstraZeneca vaccine. Yonhap News

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) officially announced that they discovered a possible connection between the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and blood clots with low blood platelets.

This will make it inevitable for South Korea to face possible disruptions to its second quarter vaccination plan, since 67% of the vaccines were supposed to be from AstraZeneca.

In a press briefing via video conferencing on April 7 (local time), the EMA announced that the EMA’s safety committee (PRAC) discovered a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets, such as blood clots occurring in the brain (cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, CVST), and said, “the committee took into consideration all currently available evidence.”

This day, the government announced that it would postpone plans to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to special education, daycare and health teachers and nursing staff at day care centers, scheduled to begin on April 8, and to the staff and people in facilities for the disabled, group homes for the elderly, shelters for people with tuberculosis and Hansen’s disease, homeless shelters, and correctional facilities, scheduled to begin on April 9. At present, authorities have also suspended the vaccination of people younger than sixty who were to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccination of over 180,000 people have been paused or postponed. The government will soon hold a discussion of an expert panel on COVID-19 vaccination and determine whether or not to restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight this day, 668 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed. This is the highest figure in 89 days, since the third wave of the novel coronavirus began to stabilize on January 8 (674 cases). According to a regional analysis, 63.2% of the cases were in the greater Seoul area, and 36.8% were from outside the Seoul metropolitan area, clearly showing that the virus is spreading nationwide. The disease control authorities announced, “The likelihood of a fourth wave is gradually increasing.”

Experts said, “The fourth wave has already begun.” Eom Joong-sik, a professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center said, “The virus has begun to spread faster at a time when more than 300 cases are confirmed everyday. So it is likely for us to see a higher average of positive cases and for the wave to last longer.”

Raising the level of physical (social) distancing (currently level 2 in the greater Seoul area, and 1.5 in other areas) beginning next week seems inevitable.

The key indicator for adjusting the level of distancing is the daily average number of locally transmitted cases, which recorded 523.7 in the past week, which already exceeded the standard for level 2.5 distancing (400-500 or more cases nationwide).