The head of the European Medicines Agency’s vaccines strategy said there is a link between the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and a rare blood clot in the brain. However, in an interview with Italian newspaper il Messaggero, Marco Cavaleri gave no indication that the EU regulator will at this stage change its recommendation that people continue to get vaccinated. The EMA has so far maintained the benefits of the AstraZeneca jab in protecting against the coronavirus outweigh any risks. “We can now say, it is clear that there is a link with the vaccine,” Cavaleri said in the interview. “What causes this reaction, however, we do not know yet,” he said, adding the agency would announce this in a few hours. Asked if the risk-benefit ratio was still in favor of the vaccine, Cavaleri replied, “Yes.” The EMA’s safety committee PRAC is meeting this week to discuss the latest evidence of blood clots after vaccination with the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, after which it is expected to make a fresh announcement. On March 18, PRAC said the vaccine “may be associated” with very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia — low levels of blood platelets — including rare cases of clots in the vessels draining blood from the brain called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). After further reports of blood clots in Germany and France, the agency said on March 31 there was “no evidence that would support restricting the use of [the Oxford/AstraZeneca] vaccine in any population.” Both countries however opted to limit the jab to older populations after concerns about blood-clotting incidents. In Europe, the vaccine has also been restricted to older populations in the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, North Macedonia and Finland. Denmark and Norway have suspended its use completely. Elsewhere, it has been restricted to older people in Canada, while the U.S. has not yet approved the vaccine for use. In the U.K., the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is also reviewing cases of rare blood clots. The regulator said Sunday night that “no decision has yet been made on any regulatory action.” https://www.politico.eu/article/astrazeneca-vaccine-linked-to-rare-blood-clots-says-ema-official/

Residents in the villages of Sang and Thirrë i Mirditë protested on Friday against the construction of a hydropower plant. They described its construction as “life-threatening”. One protester said: “I am the oldest here. We lived with this water and this mountain because we were not appreciated. We sat by the mountain. Now they want to take us, and the water. Then they will take our souls. I am 87 years old “. Residents have risen in protest after the start of works for the construction of the hydropower plant in the area of ​​Mirdita. They claim that the company “Sang1” has falsified the signatures in the legal documents to obtain the permit for the construction of the hydropower plant in Thirrë-Sang, and the drinking water factory in Krazhna. “We take water 3 km and 200 m from the Qarri stream to Sang and from ’90 until today we have half the land without irrigation because we have no water. They are taking what little water we have and we will be left with nothing “said a resident. They stated that they have filed a lawsuit with the prosecutor’s office for forgery of signatures and a complaint in the municipality of Mirdita. This is the latest in a series of protests and lawsuits against the construction of HPPs in Albania. In Valbone, citizens have been protesting against the construction of several HPPs that they say will destroy the local area and the livelihoods of those that live there. They have also made complaints about the forgery of signatures and the misappropriation of names and ID numbers on documents submitted to the court. In an interview with Exit, CEO of Patagonia Ryan Gellert said that hydropower is not green, is not sustainable, and contributes to the extinction of flora and fauna and the displacement of humans. He added that the concept of HPPs being environmentally friendly is outdated and “the negatives outweigh the benefits 100%.” https://exit.al/en/2021/04/02/144844/

Prime Minister Edi Rama and Health Minister Ogerta Manastirliu announced that the new Regional Hospital in Fier promised by the Turkish Government will be opened in a few days. They held a visit and inspected the construction works at the hospital on Sunday. The Health Minister stated that 12 staff from Turkey are expected to arrive today. “Part of the staff expected from Turkey will come to install equipment and train our staff, also five of them are medical staff”, Manastirliu added. “Turkish staff will come to organize the work, so on the 14th April we can take over the building and the equipment and then be ready to put everything into practice,” she added. “The service will be of a high tertiary level because we have introduced services that we don’t have in University Hospital. We are setting a new standard for our hospitals’ she said. The new hospital will have 380 employees, 50 of which will come from Turkey. The construction of the Fier hospital was promised by President Erdogan during Rama’s visit to Turkey in the first days of January. https://exit.al/en/2021/04/05/turkish-hospital-in-fier-almost-ready-to-open/