The Ministry of Health said the Netherlands temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca‘s COVID-19 vaccine for people under the age of 60 after a woman was shot and killed on Friday.
News agency ANP reported that due to this decision, about 10,000 scheduled vaccination appointments will be cancelled.
The Ministry of Health stated that the decision was made after Lareb, the drug supervisory agency, issued a new report and discussed with health authorities. AstraZeneca said it is cooperating with the Dutch authorities to resolve any of their problems.
It said: “The authorities of the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the World Health Organization have concluded that the benefits of using our vaccine to protect people from this deadly virus greatly exceed the risks of all adult age groups.”
Lareb, a Dutch agency that tracks the side effects of the drug, said earlier Friday that it had received five reports of thrombosis and low platelet counts after AstraZeneca vaccination, including a deceased person.