MANILA, Philippines (Updated 2:25 p.m.) — The Philippines is temporarily stopping administering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines to those under 60 after the European Medicine Agency (EMA) found that blood clotting combined with low platelet count is a potential, although “very rare,” side effect of the shot.
The Department of Health (DOH) heeded Thursday the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommendation to halt vaccinations using AstraZeneca pending further evidence and advice from local experts and the World Health Organization.
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The EMA said Wednesday that it found a possible link between very rare cases of blood clotting with low platelet count and getting the AstraZeneca shot.
The EMA said that most of these cases were reported among women under 60 years of age within two weeks of vaccination.
Despite finding this link, the EMA said that the benefits of getting the AstraZeneca coronavirus jab outweighs the risks of side effects.
In a joint statement, the DOH and the FDA echoed this, saying that the national committee on adverse events following immunization have not received reports of blood clotting and low platelet count after getting the AstraZeneca shot.
“I want to emphasize that this temporary suspension does not mean that the vaccine is unsafe or ineffective—it just means that we are taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of every Filipino,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a statement.
Earlier Thursday, Domingo said on state-run People’s Television that there are hardly any AstraZeneca vaccines left anyway, and that the next batch of the jab are expected next month, which would give them enough time to study the shot.
“That will give us time to study the evidence and to see kung magkakaroon po tayo ng panibagong (if we will have a new) guidance sa paggamit ng (on the use of) AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said.
AstraZeneca is one of four coronavirus vaccines given emergency use authorization by the FDA, along with the jabs of Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinovac and Gamaleya.