AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine is safe,
Europe's top medicines regulator on Thursday said the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine is safe, despite reports of unusual blood clots in several people among the 18 million who have received at least one dose in European Union countries and the UK.
"The committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion," said Emer Cooke, executive director of the European Medicines Agency. "This is a safe and effective vaccine."
Researchers with the EMA – the equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – said they can't totally rule out the possibility that a few dozen cases of blood clots and disorders out were triggered by the vaccine. But overall the vaccine is safe and should be delivered across Europe and elsewhere, they said.
Germany, France, Spain and Italy were among the European countries that paused use of that vaccine pending the EMA's review, and their officials said Thursday they would resume using the shot.
