The Brazilian government on May 11 decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in pregnant women after a vaccinated woman died of a stroke.
Franciele Francinato, vaccination program coordinator for the Ministry of Health, said this is a precautionary measure on the advice of the national regulator Anvisa. Late on May 10, the agency recommended “immediate suspension” of the AstraZeneca vaccine to pregnant women after a period of monitoring for its side effects.
Authorities are investigating the maternal death. The health secretariat of the city of Rio de Janeiro decided to suspend the vaccine in both pregnant and lactating women until the investigation is complete. Other cities in the state decided similarly. The state of Sao Paulo said it would stop vaccination against women with underlying disease. State media reported that 22 of the 27 states also made the move.
AstraZeneca has excluded pregnant and lactating women from the vaccine clinical trial. The company says this is common in studies.
“The vaccine did not cause adverse effects in pregnant individuals in animal studies,” the company said.
A woman in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was vaccinated against AstraZeneca on April 26. Image: Reuters
Several European countries have restricted the age of AstraZeneca vaccination after discovering rare, often fatal, blood-clotting and thrombocytopenia side effects. Denmark completely removed the vaccine from the list of vaccinations. He recommends that people under 40 should use another type.
Brazil immunizes most of its population with the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine, using only limited amounts of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. To date, the AstraZeneca vaccine accounts for about 26% of the total dose injected in the country.
The Latin American nation of 212 million people has vaccinated one dose for 15%, two doses for 7% of the population. Brazil was once heavily affected by Covid-19, 425,000 people died, behind the US.
Thuc Linh (According to the AFP)
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