EU drug regulator backs AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine after safety investigation - however European Medicines Agency says it can't definitively rule out link between blood clots, vaccine
Germany, France and other European nations announced plans to resume using the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday after European Union and British regulators moved to shore up confidence in the shot, saying its benefits outweigh the risks.
Reports of rare brain blood clots had prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend use of the shot, the latest challenge for AstraZeneca's ambition to produce a "vaccine for the world," as the global death toll from the coronavirus continues to grow.
The European Medicines Agency's (EMA) "clear" conclusion following an investigation into 30 cases of unusual blood disorders was that the vaccine's benefits in protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalization outweigh the possible risks, though the agency said a link between blood clots in the brain and the shot could not be definitively ruled out.
"This is a safe and effective vaccine," EMA director Emer Cooke told a briefing. "If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow."