Denmark reports a death and a critical illness after 2 AstraZeneca vaccinations, prompting more reviews.
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Vials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at a regional vaccine center in Copenhagen. Credit...Pool photo by Liselotte Sabroe
By
Thomas Erdbrink,
Marc Santora,
Denise Grady and
Rebecca Robbins
Denmark reported on Saturday that two people had experienced brain hemorrhages after receiving the AstraZeneca
Covid-19 vaccine, one of whom died. The Danish Medicines Agency said it was looking into whether the condition was a potential side effect.
A spokesperson for the
Capital Region of Denmarkconfirmed the death, and the Danish Ritzau news agency reported that the other person, a female civil servant in her 30s, was critically ill.
Millions of people in dozens of countries have received the
AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine with few reports of ill effects, but the European Medicines Agency, the continent’s top drug regulator, conducted a review after several countries paused the use of the vaccine. On Thursday, the agency
said that it considered the vaccine safe, although it would continue to watch for any connections to blood disorders. It noted that any threat would be very small, and that the shots will prevent vastly more deaths than they might cause.
Recent blood clots and abnormal bleeding in a small number of vaccine recipients in
European countriesraised questions about its safety, and prompted the suspensions. That created a disruptive pause in vaccination campaigns this week, even as some European countries were entering a third wave of infections.