The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is continuing to study reports of rare blood clot events potentially linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, but said on Thursday that the jab “is safe and effective in preventing Covid-19”.
Following a review of the vaccine and reported rare incidents of blood clots among recipients, the EMA said the jab is not linked to an overall risk of blood clotting.
The regulator’s findings come after 13 EU member states halted their rollouts of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company developed with Oxford University.
EMA chief Emer Cooke said the regulator’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee had come to a “clear scientific conclusion” after reviewing reports of blood clotting.
“This is a safe and effective vaccine, its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks,” Cooke told a press conference following the EMA’s latest review of the jab.
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