Austria has suspended a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine while authorities probe the death of one person and the illness of another after being vaccinated, The Irish Times reported Monday, citing Reuters and health agency officials.
The suspension comes as the Philippines received 38,400 more AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday from the World Health Organization-led COVAX program.
According to the Federal Office for Safety in Healthcare (BASG), a 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorder, while a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism and is recovering.
Based on reports by the Austrian newspaper Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten, state broadcaster ORF and the APA news agency, the women were both nurses who worked at the Zwettl clinic.
Blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine, BASG said, who has launched an investigation to determine the cause of death and illness and completely rule out any possible link.
"There have been no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine," Reuters quoted an AstraZeneca spokesperson as saying, adding that all batches of the vaccine have undergone strict and rigorous quality controls.
Austria currently has 475,070 COVID-19 cases, with 8,713 deaths and 443,152 recoveries.
The APA news agency said the AstraZeneca vaccine had been authorized for emergency use by the European Medicines Agency and the WHO based on a global clinical program involving 23,000 patients.
"All of these evaluations have concluded that the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective," APA quoted the company as saying.
APA said the British pharmaceutical company was in contact with Austrian health ang government officials and would fully support the investigation.
