'AstraZeneca safe but can't rule out link to rare clotting disorder': Europe medical regulator
Amsterdam/IBNS: Europe's medical regulator said Thursday declared the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as "safe and effective".
It said there is no direct association with a higher blood clot risk.
This comes after more than a dozen European countries temporarily halted the use of the vaccine over reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine from two batches.
"The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion: this is a safe and effective vaccine," European Medicines Agency (EMA) chief Emer Cooke told media following an investigation by the body's safety committee.
"The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots," she added.
However, "cannot rule out definitively" a link to a rare clotting disorder, said the medical body.
Earlier in the day, the United Kingdom health regulator also announced that there were no links between blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine shots or that of Pfizer vaccine.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said it was better to take the AstraZeneca vaccine than not taking any.
This comes as Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Germany, France, Italy and Spain have temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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