COVID-19: PORTUGAL SUSPENDS USE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINES

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

Portuguese health authorities today decided to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19 for reasons of “precaution” and “public health”.

The decision was announced by the authority of the drug and comes after several European countries have also suspended the administration of this vaccine due to reports of the appearance of blood clots in vaccinated people.

From Jornal Madeira

What will this mean for those that have had the first dose.???

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Tobi Hughes

35 Responses

  2. 37 bad reactions after 17 million injections and with the EU health authorities saying it’s good.

  3. I must say I don’t understand the alarm here. 37 cases of blood clots out of a total of 17 million doses given! I had my first one today with no worries at all.

  4. Wise decision. – It don’t look so good if after a blood clot you wake up in the morning only to realise you had it! It really don’t look so good.

  5. I was hoping Portugal weren’t going to follow the example of other European countries but looks like they have been sucked in. Blood clots common and nothing to link them to Astra Zeneca vaccine. Such a shame and will delay Europe’s vaccination programme even further.

  6. A total and utter knee jerk reaction – but not surprised as the EU want unity amongst their Member States above all else, even though they were late out of the block. One Out – all out! Once again it’s a chance for the EU to knock the UK for achieving Brexit . . . If I was Boris, I would offer any of our ‘spare’ stocks of AstraZeneca to Portugal – gratis!

    1. This has nothing to do with BREXIT do you really believe that countries would stop vaccination of their citizens and damage their economies just to annoy Brexiteers. The UK could have gone ahead with purchasing it’s own vaccines while in the EU. The reason the EU decided to purchase as a block was in solidarity to ensure that the smaller and poorer EU nations wouldn’t be last in the queue in the scramble for vaccines after the large countries like Germany and France. This level of solidarity is something totally lacking in the Brexit world view.
      As an English immigrant to Portugal who reads the newspapers here you’d be surprised to know that Brexit features very little in the national narrative.

  9. Perhaps now the EU stops using the Astrazenica vaccine they’ll stop moaning that they don’t have enough of it. Will the Italians now send their 250,000 doses to Australia??? 37 blood clots out of 17 million injections is much less than the natural incidence of blood clots. Someone needs to start looking at the incidence regarding Pfizer and Moderna injections. A friend of mine had a pulmonary embolism 2 weeks ago and had not had any vaccine.
    It parallels the fuss 2 months ago about allergic reactions. That all seems to have died down.

    1. 11 millions have had Pfizer, over 30 millions have had AstraZeneca yet the same number of cases of good clots for each vaccine. So, to me the Pfizer looks worse!!

  10. What has this to do with the EU? I wished this forum would not get involved in remarks concerning the pros and cons of Brexit. The EU regrets the UK leaving the Union. Maybe in time this decision can be reversed. Politics should stay out of this forum. Enuff said!

  11. How many more unnecessary deaths will these political motivated decisions cause just as the third wave begins to gather momentum in Europe?

  13. What a sad decision not based on science. The result could be that the UK will insist on it’s 10 day home quarantine on return from Madeira due to a high level of Covid resulting from too few vacs. This will make it impossible for some people to visit Madeira. I thought Madeira wanted UK visitors but obviously not.

    1. Of all the valid points you could use, you decided to go via the colonial route. Madeira wants tourists but no, not any cost. This is why wearing masks was compulsory even when british tourists didn’t want to use one. This is why tests were compulsory at the airport even when british tourists did not want to get tested. And for sure authorithies will not take unecessary risks with vaccines just because brititish tourists dont want to visit places where authorithies are cautious.

      1. Antonio, I am a British tourist and spent 6 weeks on Madeira in September and October. I did not object to the test at the airport, I did not object to the hand sanitizing in the shops and restaurants and I did not object to wearing a face mask….. In fact, outside of the hotel, I was very often the only one wearing one! Please don’t put all British tourists in the same category. I can’t wait to visit again but sometimes I feel I am not welcome. ?

        1. Mary Gray, you are more than welcome, my response was based on this comment from daibell:

          “I thought Madeira wanted UK visitors but obviously not”,

          which essentially means “I think UK visitors should not visit Madeira because the scientific board in Madeira just like in another few dozen countries have decided to hold the AstraZeneca vaccination as a precautionary measure until there is further evidence it is completely safe”. This type of blackmail, I don´t think this is how things should work.

      1. Tobi, yes currently there is a 10 day quarantine period at home, but I’m hoping that if Covid in Madeira goes down to a low level that the UK Government will remove the quarantine period and so make it easy for tourism to Madeira from the UK

        1. I don’t think this will happen for a while though, even kick-starting tourism in second half of May from the UK doesn’t look promising now.

      1. There will be no meaningful return of tourists, of any Nationality until the curfew is lifted and any country such as the UK drops it’s insistence on a self quarantine period on return. Ask yourself, am I really going to spend my money to be locked into my Hotel and not allowed outside for half the time of my Holiday and then on my return home spend ten days within the four walls of my house ? On top of which I will probably expected to pay for test/vaccination certificates. Portugal can’t do anything about the UK Government rules but it can help itself by lifting the curfew and pressing on with the vaccination exercise, using all vaccine s available.

  14. The Paul Ehrlich Institute, which is responsible for vaccines in Germany, wrote on its website that when analyzing the data, “a noticeable accumulation of a special form of very rare cerebral vein thrombosis in connection with a lack of blood platelets and bleeding close to vaccinations with the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca “.

  15. Data shows very little difference between AZ and Pfizer vaccine re blood clots – utter madness to stop using it ….

  16. Yes the clots are every where maurice, could not agree with you more.
    The EU will eventually wake up and realise it’s a lot less worse than getting covid.
    Who do the WHO represent? Not the UK.
    This bad press only reduces uptake and reduces the overall effectiveness for everyone.

  17. Surely the clots to worry about are the clots hampering the roll out of vaccinations in the war against Covid.

  18. I am saddened by the reports of doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine being wasted. So many countries would happily use them in the fight against Covid.

  19. The pause of AZ vaccination is not caused by clots after AZ in general. It is about a very special usually very rare type of it (mentioned in the post of Sven above). According PEI data there had been 3 cases on 11.5Mio. jabs in UK, but 7 cases on 1. 5Mio. jabs in Germany. First is below the average, last is highly above to it.That is why they take a closer look to it. The pause is based on experts of this illness, that confirm that AZ theoretical might have an effect. This all looks plausible for me they just do their job.
    The EU was not anyhow involved in the pausing of AZ until now. Only national agencies made decisions. Until now you can blame the EU for doing nothing, but not for doing something. The EMA (EU) will be involved later this week, also the WHO.
    I would expect that vaccination with AZ will continue after the research is finished.

  20. There are about 3000 blood clot problems reported every month in the UK….So 37 reported blood clots from 17 million people who have had the AZ vaccination is actually below what would be expected

  21. They are like lemmings. One country suspends its use and the others follow. Is the incidence of supposed blood clot deaths after vaccination at all similar to death due to catching COVID-19? I think not by a huge amount. Our politicians seem to have no grasp whatsoever of statistics.

    1. Politicians have little grasp of anything. I have always said that anyone who wants to stand as a politician should immediately be banned from politics. How about a scheme like jury duty? You get called up and then have to be a politician for a couple of years?

      It could be interesting! ??

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