The World Health Organisation WHO says on Friday that it was aware of blood clot concerns linked to a specific batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but maintained that to date, no-one has died from any coronavirus vaccine.
WHO spokesperson, Dr Margaret Harris, in a videoconference in Geneva, said the development came after several European countries suspended the rollout of the jab as a precaution.
Harris said based on data reported to WHO by national governments no causes of death have been found or been caused by COVID-19 vaccines to date.
She noted that the WHO’s independent expert global advisory board, SAGE, was currently assessing reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine and that those findings would be made public as soon as they were available.
According to her, blood clotting episodes are common in people “so it’s not clear if this is something that is going to happen,” or whether the vaccine is responsible.
Harris said the Chinese Sinovac jab was currently in the last stage of clinical evaluation and might be approved for use by the end of the month.
