Alma Möller, the Medical Director of Health, has announced that Iceland will collaborate with other Nordic countries to investigate whether there are dangerous side effects with the AstraZeneca virus, Fréttablaðið reports.
This was announced at a civil defence meeting this morning.
It is safe, but countries are cautious
The European Medicines Agency’s expert committee, EMA, concluded on Thursday last week that the AstraZeneca vaccine was effective and safe.
There has been no evidence that there is a link between vaccination with the vaccine and reports of blood clots.
Several European nations, including Iceland, had temporarily suspended the use of the vaccine due to such announcements, but following the EMA’s decision, some of them continued vaccination, including Germany, France and Spain.
Discussions between the Nordic countries
Þórólfur Guðnason, Chief Epidemiologist, and Alma Möller, Medical Director of Health, met yesterday with their Nordic colleagues to investigate possible side effects.
“The study aims to gather data on the baseline incidence of this rare disease. However, the nations where these cases have occurred are being investigated separately.
“They have gathered their best people to do this. In the future, an attempt will be made to assess whether the risk varies according to, for example, age and gender, and this would be the basis for a decision on continued use, “Alma said at the information meeting today.
AstraZeneca is effective for those older than 65
New research by AstraZeneca in the United States indicates that the vaccine is more effective in individuals over 65 years of age, or about 80%.
When asked whether these results will call for vaccination changes in Iceland, Þórólfur said, “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re looking at right now with the Nordic countries. We need to find a group that is not at risk of getting these side effects and then use the vaccine with them. That is why we naturally want to minimize this risk as much as possible. ”
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