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Most EU countries including Spain, France, Italy and Germany have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of rare blood clots and abnormal bleeding. The pharmaceutical company and health officials in the region insist, however, there is no cause for alarm.
Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency, said at a news conference Tuesday that they were still studying the possibility of rare side effects from the vaccine but there was “no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions.”
“While the investigation is ongoing, we are currently still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization, outweigh the risk of the side effects,” she said, according to The New York Times.