In Europe, Netherlands became the latest country to suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The suspension comes despite the European Union medicines regulator’s advice that the vaccine’s benefits still outweigh the risks. Several EU members temporarily halted the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure while the health authorities investigate the reports of some patients developing blood clots after receiving the shot, including one case in Denmark where a person died.

Last Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) released a statement, saying that it was aware of Denmark’s decision to pause its vaccination campaign, but insisted that there was no indication that vaccination has caused blood coagulation.

EMA’s statement read, “The position of EMA’s safety committee PRAC is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing.”

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There are certain countries that have suspended the use of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine which are enlisted below.

1: The Danish authorities in Denmark suspended vaccinations on March 11 for two weeks as a “precautionary measure” following the death of one person who received the shot.

2: The Nordic country, Norway decided to pause vaccinations on March 11 following reports of death in Denmark.

3: In Iceland, although there were no reports of patients developing blood clots, the island nation chose to halt the vaccine on March 11.

4: The Bulgarian government suspended inoculations using the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 12, urging EMA to send a written statement dispelling all doubts about the vaccine’s safety.

5: On March 14, the European nation Ireland decided to temporarily suspend its use to “maintain confidence” in its vaccine programme, according to the chairperson of its National Immunisation Advisory Committee.

6: The Dutch government (Netherlands) has said that it would halt the use of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for two weeks “as a precautionary measure and pending further investigation.”

Apart from these European nations, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Latvia have also suspended the use of a particular batch of their AstraZeneca vaccine supply.

AstraZeneca also said that a “careful review” of all available data on vaccination of 17 million people in the EU and the UK has shown no evidence of “an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia”. As of March 9, at least 22 cases of thromboembolic events, marked by the formation of blood clots, have been reported among 3 million people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The British-Swedish company added, “This is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed Covid-19 vaccines.”