AstraZeneca trials on children put on hold as investigator checks blood clot links

The Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine
PA

The AstraZeneca vaccine trial on children has been put on hold as the UK regulator investigates a possible link to rare blood clots in adults.

Over 300 children have signed up for the trials but Professor Andrew Pollard from the University of Oxford told the BBC its scientists were waiting for further information before restarting them.

He added there were no safety concerns with the trial itself.

A spokesperson from the university said in a statement: “Whilst there are no safety concerns in the paediatric clinical trial, we await additional information from the MHRA on its review of rare cases of thrombosis/thrombocytopaenia that have been reported in adults, before giving any further vaccinations in the trial.

“Parents and children should continue to attend all scheduled visits and can contact the trial sites if they have any questions.”

The trial, which started in February, is assessing whether the jab produces a strong immune response in children aged between six and 17.

Sage adviser Professor Calum Semple said that the decision was made out of “exceptional caution” and urged people to continue accepting Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs.

He told Channel 4 News: “This has been done out of exceptional caution and the big story still is that for a middle-aged, slightly overweight man, such as myself, my risk of death is one in 13,000 – the risk of this rare clot, which might not even be associated with the vaccine, is probably one in a million.

“So I’m still going to say it’s better to get the vaccine than not get the vaccine and we can pause and take time to carefully consider the value for children because they’re not at risk of death from Covid.”

He added: “If you’ve been called for the vaccine then you’re in an age group that is very likely to benefit from the vaccine. So the bottom line is if you’ve been called for the vaccine I would urge you to take the vaccine.”

Boris Johnson had earlier today defended the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine urging people to get the jab.

During a visit to AstraZeneca’s manufacturing plant in Macclesfield the Prime Minister told reporters: “On the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the best thing people should do is look at what the MHRA say, our independent regulator – that’s why we have them, that’s why they are independent.

“Their advice to people is to keep going out there, get your jab, get your second jab.”

The WHO and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have confirmed they will publish findings later this week.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in