Astrazeneca

A birth control group has stressed that the contraceptive pill is safe and there should not be a repeat of the 1995 pill scare that led to unplanned pregnancies in the UK.

Vaccine hesitancy has risen across Europe, after the European Union's medicines regulator said there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare blood clotting disorder.

A list of things that increase the risk of blood clots to help put the AstraZeneca headlines into perspective.

Despite the risk, the European regulator said the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks.

Top official said: "It is becoming more and more difficult to affirm that there isn't a cause-and-effect relationship" between the shot and rare clotting.

"According to the current scientific knowledge, there is no evidence that would support restricting the use of this vaccine in any population," EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Pediatric clinical trials need to be completed before the vaccines become available to young people.

The British-Swedish pharmaceutical company will apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

It said Saturday one person died and another fell seriously ill with blood clots and cerebral hemorrhaging after receiving the vaccine.

TikToker Alyss Elizabeth sparked a conversation among women with her post about European countries pausing the AstraZeneca vaccine roll out because of a six in one million chance of blood clot, while there is a "six in 10,000 chance of developing blood clots" for women on the pill.

The U.K. and French prime ministers are scheduled to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 immunization on Friday.

"Its benefits in protecting people from COVID-19 with the associated risks of deaths and hospitalizations outweigh the possible risks," EMA executive director Emer Cooke said.

Germany announced a temporary suspension of the shot after a vaccine watchdog found seven cases of a rare brain blood clot among 1.6 million people who were given the injection in the country. Three of the cases had been fatal.

As of Tuesday, 17 European countries have suspended the use of the vaccine over unconfirmed reports that the inoculation could lead to dangerous blood clots.

The European Medicines Agency's head said there is no evidence to suggest a link between the vaccine and adverse health events reported among a small pool of recipients.

Prosecutors in the Italian region of Piedmont said they had seized the doses after a 57-year-old music teacher fell ill and died shortly after receiving the shot.

"This is something that is followed very carefully by the CDC and the FDA," Fauci said Tuesday. "But so far, so good."

More than 15 European countries have suspended use of the vaccine over blood-clotting fears.

The U.S. continues to hold onto millions of doses of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine to ensure "maximal flexibility" in vaccinating the American population. But some countries are begging for the doses to be moved abroad as the company awaits FDA approval.

Use of AstraZeneca's vaccine was paused by the Danish Health Authority as a precaution this week after reports about blood clots in people who received the vaccine, including one fatal case.

The European Medicines Agency has said countries can continue to use the jab while reports are investigated.

Austrian authorities suspended inoculations with a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine following the death.

A poll released by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on February 10 found that hesitancy around the vaccine was more prominent among Black Americans compared with other ethnicities.

The program comes as early data shows the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant of COVID-19.

President Joe Biden is uniquely placed to deliver the People's Vaccine and convert the lessons of the crisis to build a new, transformative economy centered on the shared prosperity of humankind.

Its efficacy against the new 501Y.V2 variant fell far below the 50 percent benchmark that regulators have set for COVID-19 vaccines.

The EU's shifting of the blame toward AstraZeneca throughout last week's crisis was as baseless as it was pointless.

Johnson & Johnson say their vaccine is 66 percent effective overall in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19.

The Serum Institute of India is manufacturing millions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Professor Shabir Madhi, who is working on trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has warned that mutated strains of the COVID-19 virus might be more resistant to vaccines.