ITALY – All countries should closely monitor adverse health effects related to the use of any vaccine, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) told the Sputnik news agency following the suspension of the AstraZeneca drug in several European Union (EU) countries, reported Bernama.
Several European states have suspended vaccination with the AstraZeneca drug as a precaution after reports on severe side-effects, including blood clots, allegedly triggered by the vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there was currently no indication that the reported negative effects were caused by the vaccination.
“The WHO encourages all countries to continue to carefully monitor for any adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs) with any vaccine, and to report any serious cases of AEFIs to the global AEFI surveillance database,” the spokesperson said on March 11.
The WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) reviews all the reports on the vaccines’ safety, according to the organisation’s representative.
“The WHO’s GACVS systematically reviews any vaccine safety signals and concerns related to Covid-19 vaccine safety to advise the WHO on any new safety signals or concerns related to the Covid-19 vaccines,” the spokesperson said.
The WHO declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 118.34 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.62 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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