DAX up despite concerns of blood clots from Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
France, Germany, Italy and Spain came together to suspend the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in an effort to protect public confidence, it has been reported today.
The number of countries to have suspended or limited use of the jab stands at 16, despite the European Medicines Agency saying there has been no evidence found of a link between the vaccine and incidences of blood clots.
However, authorities in Spain and Germany have expressed concern over the cases of blood clots seen in people who have taken the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Ann Taylor, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer, said that while 17m people in the UK and the EU had received the jab, cases with blood clots were “lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population”.
“The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting vaccine events, to ensure public safety,” Taylor added.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, commented on the impact of the news on investor sentiment.
“The decision by several European countries to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine around disputed safety concerns is not helpful to sentiment and investors will be hoping the situation can be resolved sooner rather than later,” Mould said.
However, European stock markets rose on Tuesday amid concerns about the immediate future of the roll-out.
At 1335 GMT the FTSE 100 is up by 0.69% as the pound weakened while the DAX is up 0.74%.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said the EU’s decision could come back to haunt it following an already stumbling vaccine roll-out.
“The EU’s inability to construct an effective vaccine policy months ago continues to haunt it, with the latest decision appearing to arise from an overreaction to isolated incidences,” Beauchamp said.
“With Italy facing another wave of infection now really isn’t the time to reduce the vaccine options available to European populations, and the prospect of an extended crisis in Europe even as the UK and US move fully into the recovery sage threatens to undo much of the rally in European markets of recent months.”
