European Union Health Ministers To Discuss AstraZeneca Vaccine

The Presidency of the European Union (EU) convened an extraordinary meeting of health ministers on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the decision to be taken by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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The EMA will announce its conclusions on the safety assessment of the AstraZeneca vaccine in relation to cases of thromboembolism reported in several patients following administration of the serum.

If it continues to recommend its use in Europe, the EMA will decide whether to veto it in certain groups defined by age, sex, or medical history as it considers that they may be at higher risk of developing blood clots.

Successive EMA reviews of this drug have led several European countries to redefine their vaccination strategies to administer this vaccine to different age groups as different side effects became public.

Meanwhile, the European Commission (EC) denied that it has diplomatic problems with Australia, a country that requested that 3.1 million AstraZeneca vaccines be sent to it. These medicines were produced on European territory but the company has not yet delivered them.

"The EU is not the only region in the world producing AstraZeneca vaccine. This is a global problem. It is not a bilateral problem between one country and the European Union," EC Spokesperson Eric Mamer said.

He also pointed out that vaccine export procedures stipulate that shipments of medicines outside European territory must be requested by the pharmaceutical companies and not by the recipient countries.