Correlation and not causation? Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a “precautionary measure”

Austrian authorities have suspended inoculations with a batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as a “precautionary measure” while they investigate the death of one person and the illness of another after they received shots.

“It's important to remember that correlation is not the same thing as causation. So just because a death occurred on the same day a person received a vaccination does not mean there's any connection,” said Dr. Jeffrey Singer of the CATO Institute to The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. 

“We've yet to confirm a single death related to the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

The AztraZeneca vaccine is currently in use in 60 countries, but has yet to submit an application for approval to the Food and Drug Administration.

“The FDA is going to want to see what comes from the investigation,” said Dr. Singer. “It makes sense for Austria to want to look into it and suspend it, but just because something happened on the same day doesn't mean there's a connection.”