British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday defended the safety of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, after several European countries halted its rollout over blood clot fears. Germany, Italy and France on Monday joined others in suspending the vaccine, dealing a potential blow to the global immunisation campaign against a disease that has killed more than 2.6 million people.
However, the World Health Organization, AstraZeneca, and the European Medicines Agency have insisted the shot is safe, and that there is no link between it and reported blood clots. The British leader on Tuesday echoed assurances that the jab was not harmful.
“That vaccine is safe and works extremely well,” Johnson wrote in The Times newspaper. “It is being made in multiple places from India to the US, as well as Britain, and it is being used around the world,” he added.
Fears have grown in some countries over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine after several cases of blood clots or brain…