British woman dies in Cyprus after AstraZeneca Vaccine

 

A 39-year-old British woman died in a Cypriot hospital after a blood clotting incident after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the official Cyprus News Agency said Monday.

Charalambos Charilaou, spokesperson for the state health services, told CNA that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would investigate the death.

The woman, treated at Nicosia General Hospital’s intensive care unit, received the first dose of the vaccine on May 6 in the resort town of Paphos on the western coast of the Mediterranean island.

The woman, who was not named, developed symptoms days later, according to the Cyprus Mail newspaper, the woman suffered a brain haemorrhage and was in a coma before she died.

Charalambos Charilaou, spokesperson for the state health services, told CNA that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would investigate the death.

Cyprus health authorities have opened an investigation to see if the "serious thrombotic episode" was linked to the AstraZeneca jab.

Four other cases of "mild" blood clotting incidents—three of which occurred after an AstraZeneca shot and one after a Pfizer jab—are also being investigated by Cyprus.

Some countries have restricted or dropped AstraZeneca shots from national vaccine campaigns over very rare blood clots, though the EMA says the benefits outweigh the risks.