REGIONAL – Martinique temporarily suspends AstraZeneca vaccine campaign

SOURCE: St Lucia Times – Martinique has temporarily suspended using the AtraZeneca vaccine, local reports say.

However  the decision will not affect centres that administer the Pfizer vaccine.

According to Martinique 1ere, so far the French Caribbean Island has given nearly 600 people the AstraZeneca jab.

But health officials  say they have recorded no ‘serious events’ as a result.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine pause in Martinique is in line with the decision announced Monday by France.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France will stop administering the jab as a “precaution.”

France is awaiting a new assessment by the European Union’s medicines regulator.

Health officials expected that the  European Medicines Agency would make an announcement Tuesday.

Several European countries have already suspended using the AstraZeneca vaccine.

They include Denmark, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The countries decided to put the vaccines on hold after reports of possible side-effects.

However, the vaccine developers say there’s no link between their vaccine and blood clotting.

And both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency  say there’s no evidence so far that  the vaccine causes serious adverse effects.