Germany and Canada put restrictions on Astrazeneca use

German health officials agreed on Tuesday to restrict the

use

of Astra-Zeneca’s vaccine in people under 60, amid fresh concern over

unusual blood clots

reported in a tiny number of those who received the shots. On Monday,

Canada

suspended use of the

AstraZeneca

jab in people under 55, citing concerning data from Europe.


The move follows the recommendations of Germany’s independent vaccine expert panel and comes after the country’s drug regulator released new data showing a rise in reported cases of an unusual form of blood clot in the head — known as sinus vein thrombosis. Several German regions, including the capital Berlin and the country’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, had already suspended use of the shots in younger people earlier Tuesday. That decision came after the country’s medical regulator said its tally of the blood clots reported by March 29 had increased to 31, out of some 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca administered in

Germany

so far. Nine of the people died and all but two of the cases involved women, who were aged 20 to 63, the Paul Ehrlich Institute said.

In a statement ahead of the announcement, AstraZeneca said tens of millions of people worldwide have received its vaccines, and noted that the EU regulator and the WHO concluded that the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.

Canada, too, updated recommendation based on German data, which suggested the risk of blood clot is now potentially as high as one in 100,000, much higher than the one-in-amillion risk believed before.