March 14, 2021- 4:22 p.m
Italy has suspended use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab in its Piedmont region following the death of a teacher one day after being inoculated with the vaccine, according to ANSA news agency.
Investigations are yet to find a connection between the death and the vaccine.The Piedmont region’s health authority said the suspension was a precautionary measure, and no severe problems have ever been reported after the administration of the vaccine to date.
The regional government’s statement said that the Piedmont region was also awaiting decisions from Italy’s medicine’s agency Aifa and a regional health commission on the issue.
“It is an act of extreme prudence, while we verify whether there is a connection. There have been no critical issues with the administration of vaccines to date,” Luigi Genesio Icardi, head of regional health services, said in the statement.Italy’s medicine authority Aifa on Thursday banned the use of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine belonging to the ABV2856 batch.
Sources told Reuters the decision had been taken after the deaths of two men in Sicily.Aifa had said that the ban was precautionary, adding that no link had been established between the vaccine and subsequent “serious adverse events”.
