London: A senior official from European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Tuesday stated that there is a clear link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots in the brain.
“In my opinion we can now say it is clear that there is an association with the vaccine. However, we still do not know what causes this reaction,” Marco Cavaleri of EMA told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
He said that the regulator will not be able to give an indication as to which age-group the vaccine should be given. He also didn’t give any evidence to support his claims.
EMA has consistently said the benefits of the vaccine outweighs its risks. It is investigating 44 reports of an extremely rare brain-clotting ailment, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), out of 9.2 million people in the EU.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated the vaccine is safe.