GENEVA: Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, said that the UN health agency "systematically reviews safety signals, and is carefully assessing the current reports on the AstraZeneca vaccine".
"It is important to note that the European Medicines Agency has said there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and blood clots, and that the vaccine can continue to be used while its investigation is ongoing," the WHO chief said.
The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been suspended in a number of countries across Europe and Asia, following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people, reports Xinhua news agency.
"WHO is aware that some countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines, based on reports of blood clots in some people who received doses of the vaccine from two batches. This measure was taken as a precaution while a full investigation is finalized," Tedros said at a press briefing on Friday.
A number of countries like Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Romania and Thailand have suspended the rollout of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine after it was linked to blood clots in recipients, while Austria and France have decided to continue using it.
The European Commission said on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine is still safe to use, adding that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had adopted a preliminary review on the case in Austria "where they said there is no specific indication that the vaccination led to these conditions".
The WHO chief also said that more than 335 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally so far, and no deaths have been found to have been caused by them. The WHO has also given emergency use listing to Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, making it the fourth to receive the health agency's approval.
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