As the controversy around the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine rages on in the EU, UK regulators have revealed the Pfizer-owned vaccination has been linked to more blood clots than the AZ jab.
Data from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has shown more blood clots have been linked to the Pfizer vaccine than the controversial AstraZeneca injection in a study of adverse events in Britain.
As of 28 February, 38 blood clots had been reported in the UK following over 11 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, whilst only 30 had been reported after 9.7 million AstraZeneca doses.
The data also makes clear that neither figure is higher than the clotting risk experienced in the overall population.
A spokesperson from Oxford University noted that the WHO, MHRA and European Medicines Agency have recommended continued use of the AstraZeneca jab.
“Both the MHRA and EMA have said that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh any potential risks, and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing, a stance also supported by the WHO,” a statement to the Daily Mail reads.
The Daily Mail also reports that death rates among those receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine were greater when compared to the Pfizer injection, but that this is likely “because it is used in care homes and among elderly people in the community, while Pfizer’s is used more in major vaccine hubs that generally healthier people travel to.”
Meanwhile the head of Italy’s medicines regulator Nicola Magrini said the decision to ban the AstraZeneca vaccine was politically motivated and produced a domino effect among EU countries, with fourteen nations suspending their rollout of the jab.