Cyprus has suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, pending a review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the health ministry announced on Monday.
Norway and Denmark stopped giving AstraZeneca covid-19 shots last week after reporting isolated bleeding cases, blood clots and a low platelet count.
Cyprus’ inoculation programme with alternate vaccines from Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna will continue.
There have been no publicly reported cases of any side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine in Cyprus.
The World Health Organization appealed to countries not to suspend vaccinations against the disease that has caused more than 2.7 million deaths worldwide.
“As of today, there is no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that vaccination campaigns continue so that we can save lives and stem severe disease from the virus,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.
Greece will wait to hear from the EMA this week before making any decisions on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of March 10, 30 cases of thromboembolic events had been reported among close to 5 million people vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s shot in the European Economic Area.
Countries suspending the use of AstraZeneca vaccine:
- Denmark
- Norway
- Ireland
- Estonia
- The Netherlands
- Thailans
- Bulgaria
- Iceland
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Latvia
- Germany
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Cyprus
- Portugal
- Slovenia
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