Belgium will only administer the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 to people aged 56 and older for the next four weeks. But what about younger people who have already received a first dose? “It may be that we will give a different vaccine as a precaution,” said vaccinologist Pierre Van Damme in VTM NEWS.
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Van Damme emphasizes that it is still too early to make any big statements about the consequences of the suspension on the vaccination campaign. “This will not change much in the short term, because we are currently still busy with the vaccination of people over 65,” it sounds. “If the suspension is extended after four weeks, this will translate into a two to three week delay before the vaccination of the next age group can start.”
The suspension decision comes after examination by the risk assessment committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency EMA. That concludes that the combination of blood clots and a low platelet count may be a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, albeit a very rare one. According to Van Damme, we now have to wait and see whether blood clots also develop in people who have already received a second dose of AstraZeneca. For this, the United Kingdom is being looked at with suspicion, where many people have already been fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca.
Switch maken?
But what kind of people under the age of 56 who have already received an injection with the AstraZeneca vaccine in our country? Can they receive a second dose within a month? “It may be that by then the figures have shown that there is only a small risk with the first injection,” says Van Damme. “It may also be that we remain very careful and give a different vaccine as a precaution. Germany has already made that switch and we will learn from that. These are experiences that Member States will share with each other. ”
Van Damme emphasizes that AstraZeneca is and will remain a safe vaccine. “The benefits are still greater than those few minor risks. This vaccine is one of the elements to get the pandemic under control, ”he concludes.
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