On 19 March, the 27-year-old nurse Megi Bakradze who went into anaphylactic shock yesterday following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine died, sparking a debate in the country regarding the vaccination process.  

After Bakradze’s death case, a specially appointed meeting of the Immunization Scientific Committee and the National Committee of Immunization Safety Experts at the Ministry of Health was held. “Georgia is to continue the vaccination process using AstraZeneca vaccine,” Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze said following the meeting. She explained that the decision relies on the recent approval of AstraZeneca by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which reported the vaccine as “safe and effective.”

Tikaradze added in regard to Bakradze’s case that the committee of experts will closely follow it and collect all the necessary information to carefully investigate the complications and procedures following the case. “After a thorough investigation, we will share the details with the public, including the possible causality between AstraZeneca and the side effects,” she stressed.

Several European countries have this week suspended their AstraZeneca vaccination programs due to reports of blood clots forming in patients who had been vaccinated with the British-Swedish jab. Among those countries are Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Spain, the Netherlands, and Bulgaria. The World Health Organization called on states to continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine. WHO’s Chief Researcher Sumaya Suaminata says that no link has been made between the complications and the vaccine.

Meanwhile in Azerbaijan, the special quarantine regime was extended until 1 June 2021. The assistant to Azerbaijan’s President and the head of the Department of Economic Affairs and Innovative Development Policy of the presidential administration Shahmar Movsumov also spoke about which restrictions could be lifted during the special regime. He said that during the next easing of quarantine measures, the opening of the Baku metro might be on the agenda. Further, he underscored that the organisation of weddings and birthday parties was banned in the country. While speaking on the vaccination process in the country, Movsumov said that nearly 1,5 million vaccines have been brought to the country so far and the vaccination of people over 40 years old would start from 22 March. He also stated that the introduction of certain privileges for vaccinated people in the future was being discussed.