• Nationals Senator Matt Canavan today called on Australia to suspend its AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rollout, citing the decision of several European nations to pause their own.
• Those precautionary measures were taken after reports of blood clots among some vaccine recipients, but there is no evidence of a link between the AstraZeneca jab and those blood clots.
• “Those governments will take their own decisions [and] we’ll take ours,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said today.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Senior federal government figures have vouched for the safety and efficacy of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, after their parliamentary colleague, Senator Matt Canavan, said Australia should mirror a slew of European nations which have suspended its use.

Nations including Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and The Netherlands have paused their AstraZeneca vaccine rollouts after Denmark and Norway reported several cases of blood clots in those who received the jab.

There is no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine leads to an elevated risk of developing blood clots.

AstraZeneca has responded to the reports, saying the number of reported blood clots among vaccine recipients is lower than it would be in the general population.

The European Medicines Agency, which is investigating the reports, yesterday said “the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.”

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended its continual use.

Despite those reassurances, Canavan today suggested Australia should pause its AstraZeneca rollout, which will eventually comprise the vast majority of Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine program.

“We should pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine because almost every European country now has concerns over its safety,” Canavan said on Twitter.

“There is no imminent threat of coronavirus here so why would we blindly rush on when others are concerned?”

The Federal Government and the Opposition have both distanced themselves from Canavan’s statement.

Speaking to “Today”, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said European health authorities and the WHO have found “no evidence of that causal link between the vaccine and blood clots.”

“In the United Kingdom they have successfully rolled out that vaccine, more than 12 million doses. They haven’t seen that pattern or those trends in those people who have received it,” Frydenberg said.

“Those governments will take their own decisions,” he added. “We’ll take ours.”

Separately, Trade Minister Dan Tehan vouched for the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying both it and the Pfizer formulation are safe to use.

Labor MP Tanya Plibersek reportedly had a sharper take, saying “I wouldn’t take my medical advice from Matt Canavan.”

Earlier, Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, said local authorities take the reports from Europe “seriously.”

“This does not mean that every event following a vaccination is caused by the vaccine,” he said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday championed the Australia’s looming domestic production of the AstraZeneca vaccine, telling Parliament the jab will provide “certainty and to provide that pathway out” of the COVID-19 crisis.

More than 164,000 vaccines have been administered in Australia so far, including both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca formulations.

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