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VACCINE

Ten blood clot cases found in Denmark after AstraZeneca vaccination

A total of ten cases of blood clots have been found in Denmark in people subsequent to taking the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19.

Published: 18 March 2021 17:52 CET
Ten blood clot cases found in Denmark after AstraZeneca vaccination
Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

The number was confirmed in a Danish Medicines Agency statement on Thursday.

The agency stressed that it has not yet established a connection between the vaccine and blood clots.

“The Danish Medicines Agency is processing 10 reports filed in which blood clots or symptoms of blood clots occurring after vaccination are described in the reports,” the agency wrote in the statement.

“It cannot be concluded at the current time whether there may be a connection with the vaccine, because the cases have not been fully processed,” it added.

A total of 140,000 people in Denmark have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

One person in Denmark, a 60-year-old woman has been reported to have died after receiving the vaccine. The woman was reported to have had an unusual medical history with a low number of platelets, blood clots in large and small blood vessels and bleedings.

It is not known whether her death is connected to the vaccine.

Other countries in Europe, including Denmark’s neighbour Norway, have also reported deaths in people who have recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A group of medical experts at Oslo University Hospital said on Thursday that blood clots in three health workers who took the AstraZeneca vaccine were triggered by an immune system response.

The European Medicines Agency concluded on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was a “safe and effective” tool in the battle against Covid-19 but its investigation could not rule out whether the jab had caused rare cases of blood clotting.

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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