"It's not a really serious problem, but this bad atmosphere and dark PR recently surrounding the AstraZeneca company has been already taking its toll" - the chief of prime minister's office Michał Dworczyk told TVN24 on Wednesday. He added that vaccination centres across Poland have been alarming that dozens of percent of people do not report for vaccination. On Wednesday, the country reported the highest number of infections this year.
Asked if the Polish government considered halting using AstraZeneca vaccine, Mr Dworczyk said that "as of today, there's no reason to (stop using the vaccine), as expert and institutions, both Polish and international, keep on stressing". "The WHO, the EMA, as well as Polish institutions (...) did not issue negative recommendations" - he added.
Sweden and Latvia on Tuesday suspended use of the vaccine, bringing to more than a dozen the number of EU countries to act since reports first emerged of thromboembolisms affecting people after they got the AstraZeneca shot.
"It's worth stressing that, in none of those countries, such cause and effect relationship has been proven" - said the minister.
Mr Dworczyk admitted he understood fellow politicians who "take overly decisions because they think it's the right way in this situation".
In his view, "what happened in Europe is worth looking into, as we've been dealing with certain panic, a certain hysteria.
Poland reported 25,052 daily coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to health ministry data, the highest number so far this year. Furthermore, more than 73 percent of ventilators designated for COVID patients have been occupied.
In total, the country of 38 million has reported 1,956,974 cases and 48,032 deaths.
EMA investigates
Europe's medicines watchdog will release results of its investigation into incidents of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts in recipients of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine on Thursday afternoon.
EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke on Tuesday said there was no indication that the incidents, which she called "very rare" had been caused by the vaccine, but that experts were assessing that possibility.
"The experts will meet again on Thursday to come to a conclusion and to advise whether there are any further actions that need to be taken", Cooke said at an online news conference.
"And we will inform the public of the outcome immediately after this meeting."
Trust in the safety of the vaccines was paramount and the agency was carrying out a case-by-case evaluation, she said.
"The benefits continue to outweigh the risks, but this is a serious concern and it does need serious and detailed scientific evaluation. This is what we are involved in at the moment," Cooke told a news conference.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24, Reuters