No plans to suspend AstraZeneca vaccine in Cambodia despite controversy
A doctor holda a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. KT/Khem Sovannara
Cambodia has not announced plans to suspend administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite Thailand discontinuing the vaccine temporarily on Saturday due to reported adverse side effects in Europe.
On Friday, Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine said the AstraZeneca vaccine Cambodia received – also known as Covishield – is not the same as the AstraZeneca vaccines distributed in Europe.
“The Covishield vaccine is different from the AstraZeneca vaccine that European countries are using, and some European countries have stopped vaccinating after a blood clot,” she said.
The vaccines in Thailand were acquired from a factory in South Korea.
Vaccinations were halted in Denmark, Norway and Iceland after a small number of patients developed blood clots after being vaccinated, including a woman in Denmark who passed away as a result of the blood clots.
AstraZeneca has stood by the safety of its vaccines and on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) backed the vaccine.
At a press conference, WHO officials said there was no causal link between the blood clots and the vaccines.
Spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris said: “The panel had taken the position that the jab should continue to be administered, while an investigation of cases of these thrombo-embolic events is ongoing.”
The panel she referred to was Pharmacovigivlance, the European Union medical agencies’ risk assessment committee.
Dr Li Ailan, the WHO representative to Cambodia, reiterated that the vaccines were not causally related to any deaths.
“As of March 14th, over 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since the start of the pandemic, based on data reported to WHO by national governments. No cases of death have been found to have been caused by COVID-19 vaccines to date,” she said.
“WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is carefully assessing the current reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine. As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any changes to current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public,” she added.
AstraZeneca is one of three vaccines awarded the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the WHO, along with Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson.
The single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine was approved by the WHO on Friday.
According to a Covax report updated on March 2, Cambodia has been allocated 1,104,000 total AstraZeneca doses to be delivered by May this year.
Cambodia has recorded 1,305 positive COVID-19 cases across 10 provinces and Phnom Penh. The Phnom Penh cluster rose by 12 to 505 on Sunday, while the Prey Veng cluster rose by one to stand at 44. In Kandal, 28 more positive cases brought the provincial total to 97. Khmer Times
