Belgium regrets the “chain reaction” after the controversy over the AstraZeneca vaccine
Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbruck expressed his regret at the European “chain reaction” in which one country after another decided in recent days to temporarily suspend vaccinations with the Corona vaccine for AstraZeneca. On Tuesday, the minister said during a debate in the House of Representatives that he had conveyed this frustration to his European colleagues.
Unlike a whole series of EU member states, including the Netherlands, Belgium continues to vaccinate the AstraZeneca vaccine. Other countries have stopped doing so after some reports of post-vaccination blood clots. “I think we made the right decision,” Vandenbroek said.
He noted that of the 17 million people in the UK and the European Union who have received the AstraZeneca injection so far, 15 “have been diagnosed with DVT and 22 have pulmonary embolism.” “This is 0.0002 percent of cases, while we actually expected 0.0009 percent.” Moreover, the minister said that the risk of stroke and pulmonary embolism is much greater with Corona infection.
“For us, it is extremely important that vaccines are safe and that data on side effects are collected and evaluated at the European level. We must make decisions together based on very specific data,” Vandenbroek said. According to him, they are still missing.
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