COVID news live - UK latest as govt minister reassures public over AstraZeneca jab and says he will 'happily take it in my arm' - Sky News

Is the concern over blood clots valid?

The AstraZeneca vaccine's manufacturer has insisted it is safe, saying a review of available data in more than 17 million people who have been vaccinated across the UK and EU has shown no evidence of an increased risk.

After Ireland announced on Sunday that it was suspending use of the jabs as a "precautionary step", the UK's medicines regulator said the available evidence "does not suggest the vaccine is the cause" of clots.

Dr Phil Bryan, vaccines safety lead at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said people "should still go and get their COVID-19 vaccine when asked to do so".

Northern Ireland's department of health said the rollout there will continue, "in line with MHRA guidance".

The Republic's health minister Stephen Donnelly said use of the jab was being temporarily suspended "based on new information from Norway".

The decision followed reports of serious clotting in adults in Norway which left four people in hospital.

The Netherlands also said on Sunday that it was suspending use of the vaccinations as a precaution for two weeks.

Several other European countries have already temporarily suspended use of the jabs.

But the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said the vaccine's benefits continue to outweigh its risks and that jabs can keep being administered while it carries out a review into any incidents of blood clots - noting last week that there had only been 30 cases reported among almost five million people jabbed in the European Economic Area.

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2021-03-15 07:30:00Z
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