86% of the 4,800 doses of the ABV5300 batch had already been injected in Luxembourg   Romain Gamba/archives

86% of the 4,800 doses of the ABV5300 batch had already been injected in Luxembourg   Romain Gamba/archives

The clarification was announced this Friday following health minister Paulette Lenert’s (LSAP) earlier announcement on Thursday, 11 March, that 4,800 doses of the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine had been set aside. 

These were part of the European batch "ABV5300", delivered to 17 EU countries. An Austrian nurse died after a thrombotic incident following her receiving a dose of the vaccine, while several cases of clotting issues were also linked to it. Hence, Luxembourg's decision to take this precautionary measure. 

According to a Friday statement issued by Minister Lenert, “In Luxembourg, among people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine since the start of its administration, no case of thrombosis has been reported.”

She added, however, “Based on the data available to date, it cannot be concluded that the AstraZeneca vaccine has a greater risk of side effects than the other two vaccines which are also currently authorised.”

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on 11 March that its safety committee is “reviewing all cases of thromboembolic events, and other conditions related to blood clots” while stating that, “There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine.”

Updated, 17 March 2021 at 9am, to clarify the concerns expressed by several EU governments