There does seem to be very detailed data for EU vaccinations by manufacturer, here, from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
With a little spreadsheet work, I get the following AZ numbers:
14,286,896 doses received,
11,022,959 first doses given and
4,332 second doses given.
dublinpilot wrote:
Delay 20% of vaccines from 1 week, by 1 week, to make sure the public doesn’t lose confidence in the vaccine itself, seems like a sensible decision
If delaying by a week is what the outcome will be, that would indeed be great. It is worth noting that in some reports I saw that specific batches of the vaccine were suspended, although I have no idea what is going on now.
It is also interesting that the symptoms described are not just thrombosis, but also loss of mature platelets in the bloodstream and hence pinprick bleeding
But even that may be a questionable decision. 1 million doses delayed by a week, with around of them 500 newly infected per week and then 1% of them dying is 5 preventable deaths, order of magnitude…
But the public confidence will not be regained. The issue is that this will stick in people’s memory, the damage is done.
With a little spreadsheet work, I get the following AZ numbers:
14,286,896 doses received,
11,022,959 first doses given and
4,332 second doses given.
That makes sense since “it has been known” for a while that AZ is much more tolerant of the delay to the 2nd dose than Pfizer.
So, France, Germany et al have stopped using the AZ vaccine on its population…
Well, Ive said this before : as a brit in europe, Ill have it if the locals dont want it…
Skydriller you are absolutely right.
To be blunt (sorry) the Germans are absolutely nuts. With the risk of a major third spike it is an extraordinary decision to take, and I cant imagine how it could be justified.
Oh well, it is for them to make these decisions and for them to account for the consequences.
Even for a country like Norway, with a Covid death-rate one tenth that of Germany, you can’t make the numbers work: 1/10,000 vs 250,000!
Fuji_Abound wrote:
To be blunt (sorry) the Germans are absolutely nuts. With the risk of a major third spike it is an extraordinary decision to take, and I cant imagine how it could be justified.Oh well, it is for them to make these decisions and for them to account for the consequences
As posted two pages before, the official reason is here
Following intensive consultations on the serious thrombotic events that have occurred in Germany and Europe, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut recommends the temporary suspension of vaccinations with the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.
Compared to the status on 11 March 2021, additional cases (as of Monday, 15 March 2021) have now been reported in Germany. Analysing the new data status, the experts of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut now see a striking accumulation of a special form of very rare cerebral vein thrombosis (sinus vein thrombosis) in connection with a deficiency of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) and bleeding in temporal proximity to vaccinations with the COVID-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.
The data are being further analysed and evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Vaccinations with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in Germany will be suspended until the EMA’s evaluation is complete. Today’s decision affects both initial and follow-up vaccinations.
The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut advises that individuals who have received AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and feel increasingly unwell more than four days after vaccination – for example, with severe and persistent headache or pinpoint bleeding of the skin – should seek medical treatment immediately.
MedEwok wrote:
As posted two pages before, the official reason is here
It begs two obvious questions:
1. What, if anything, do those patients have in common other than having received an AZ vaccine?
2. If Germany has seen this in <500k doses administered, why has the UK seen nothing in >10m doses administered?
The Paul-Ehrlich-Institut wrote:
…individuals who have received AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and feel increasingly unwell more than four days after vaccination – for example, with severe and persistent headache or pinpoint bleeding of the skin – should seek medical treatment immediately
Interesting advice. Surely, if you experience a severe and persistent headache or pinpoint bleeding of the skin then you seek medical treatment anyway, regardless of any injections you might have had recently. I certainly would.
Graham wrote:
If Germany has seen this in <500k doses administered, why has the UK seen nothing in >10m doses administered?
It’s seen everywhere AFAIK, only it’s probably masked sufficiently in the UK due to very high number of infected people. They explained it in the news just now. Those particular symptoms are extremely rare (I don’t know what exactly makes it rare). One in a million or something, so it’s a bit of a coincidence that it is suddenly occurring at a much higher rate for people who have just received the AZ vaccine.
Could it be one bad batch of vaccine?
After 11 million AZ vaccinations in the EU, you would expect the EU to have noticed it before now if it was a standard feature of the AZ vaccine.
