Authorities: "No Clear Evidence to Halt AstraZeneca Vaccination... Proceeding as Planned"

On the afternoon of the 15th, medical staff demonstrated the preparation process of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine at the COVID-19 vaccination center set up in the auditorium of Seongdong-gu Office in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Director Jeong Eun-kyung) announced on the 17th that there is currently no clear evidence to stop the vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and that vaccinations will proceed as originally planned in South Korea.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended on the 14th not to halt vaccinations due to fear, stating that there is no indication that the recent cases of thrombosis following AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination are caused by the vaccination.

Additionally, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced that the two cases of thrombosis that occurred in Austria are not related to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, and that the number of reported thromboembolism cases among vaccinated individuals is not higher than that observed in the general population.

In South Korea, approximately 570,000 people have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to date, but no cases have been confirmed to have a causal relationship between vaccination and thrombosis. Thrombosis is not included among the adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Promotion Team stated, "The AstraZeneca vaccine administered in South Korea is domestically produced, unlike those in Europe and other countries," and added, "We plan to closely review the EMA investigation results and cases from other countries with experts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.