© AFP
The Minister of Health has released further details following the news that a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines had been placed "in quarantine" on Thursday.
In response to an urgent query posed by CSV MP Martine Hansen, Paulette Lenert confirmed that 4,141 of the 4,800 doses had already been administered.
A number of countries suspended the AstraZeneca jab this week after news emerged from Austria of potential issues with a specific batch (ABV5300). Luxembourg received 4,800 doses from the suspended batch.
In the parliamentary response, Lenert said Austria had raised the alert on Sunday, at which point the Grand Duchy had just 69 unused bottles of the vaccine. These have been placed in quarantine and will be checked by the European Medicines Agency in Holland, where analysis is ongoing following reports of potential thrombosis (blood clotting).
Lenert confirmed in her statement that no such issues had been reported to date in Luxembourg. The EMA issued a statement on Thursday, saying there was no reason not to use the AstraZeneca vaccines. The so-called quarantine has been introduced as a precautionary measure.
The minister added that the Luxembourg authorities would continue to monitor any side effects reported as a result of the vaccines.
As of 10 March, 30 cases of thrombosis had been reported in Europe, from around five million people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Based on this information, Lenert said it was unlikely that the AstraZeneca vaccine had a greater risk of side effects than the other vaccines in circulation.
PDF: Parliamentary question and response
The World Health Organisation has also said there is no reason not to use the AstraZeneca vaccine, following a statement given in Geneva after several countries announced they had suspended the use of the jab.
The EMA update can be found below:
