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NORWAY

Norwegian health authority says blood clots ‘unlikely’ over two weeks after AstraZeneca vaccination

Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), said in an interview that the authority believes that it is unlikely people will develop suspected rare side effects if two weeks have passed since taking the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19.

Published: 22 March 2021 13:50 CET
Norwegian health authority says blood clots 'unlikely' over two weeks after AstraZeneca vaccination
(Photo by HANNIBAL HANSCHKE / POOL / AFP)

“We think you are out of danger 14 days after vaccination and that after that it is unlikely that anything will happen,” Bukholm told newspaper VG.

“But this is based on the information we have on five patients, so there is quite limited case material”, he added.

He also told the newspaper that no other countries with reported cases of blood clots following the AstraZeneca vaccine had registered them as occurring after more than 14 days.

Five patients have been admitted to Oslo University Hospital (OUS) with a combination of thrombosis, haemorrhaging and low platelet counts after receiving the vaccine. Six cases in total of the reported disease picture have been recorded in Norway.

READ MORE:Norway ‘disagreed’ with EMA conclusion over AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The patients fell ill between three and twelve days after taking the vaccine. On Sunday the Norwegian Medicines Agency (NOMA) received reports that two people died after receiving the vaccine.

A direct link between the vaccine and reports of blood clots has not yet been proven but is being investigated.

Last week the European Medicine Agency concluded that AstraZeneca is safe and effective against Covid-19.  But a group of experts at OUS have found that a strong immune response triggered by the AstraZeneca vaccine caused the blood to clot in three health workers that received the vaccine.

Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine is currently on pause in Norway. A decision on whether to resume its distribution in Norway’s vaccination program is expected later this week.

Around 130,000 people in Norway have received the AstraZeneca vaccine. As such, the six cases of blood clots so far reported gives an incidence of just over 1 case per 20,000 people in Norway of the possible side effect.

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HEALTH

Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The World Health Organization's European office warned on Tuesday the risk of Covid-19 has not gone away, saying it was still responsible for nearly 1,000 deaths a week in the region. And the real figure may be much higher.

Published: 27 June 2023 13:27 CEST
Covid-19 still causing 1,000 deaths a week in Europe, WHO warns

The global health body on May 5 announced that the Covid-19 pandemic was no longer deemed a “global health emergency.”

“Whilst it may not be a global public health emergency, however, Covid-19 has not gone away,” WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told reporters.

The WHO’s European region comprises 53 countries, including several in central Asia.

“Close to 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths continue to occur across the region every week, and this is an underestimate due to a drop in countries regularly reporting Covid-19 deaths to WHO,” Kluge added, and urged authorities to ensure vaccination coverage of at least 70 percent for vulnerable groups.

Kluge also said estimates showed that one in 30, or some 36 million people, in the region had experienced so called “long Covid” in the last three years, which “remains a complex condition we still know very little about.”

“Unless we develop comprehensive diagnostics and treatment for long Covid, we will never truly recover from the pandemic,” Kluge said, encouraging more research in the area which he called an under-recognised condition.

Most countries in Europe have dropped all Covid safety restrictions but some face mask rules remain in place in certain countries in places like hospitals.

Although Spain announced this week that face masks will no longer be required in certain healthcare settings, including hospitals and pharmacies, with a couple of exceptions.

Sweden will from July 1st remove some of its remaining Covid recommendations for the public, including advice to stay home and avoid close contact with others if you’re ill or have Covid symptoms.

The health body also urged vigilance in the face of a resurgence of mpox, having recorded 22 new cases across the region in May, and the health impact of heat waves.

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