Germany, France, Italy and others to resume use of AstraZeneca vaccine after safe, effective verdict

New Delhi, Mar 18: European countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands have said that they would resume AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European medical regulator said the jab is "safe and effective".

The closely-watched announcement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) came after the WHO and Britain's health watchdog both said the vaccine is not associated with a higher blood clot risk after days of commotion around the shot.

After an investigation into the AstraZeneca jab, its "committee has come to a clear scientific conclusion: this is a safe and effective vaccine", the EMA's chief Emer Cooke said.

"The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots," she added.

However, the agency said it "cannot rule out definitively" a link to a rare clotting disorder.

The AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, which is being produced by Serum Institute of India, is part of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India. Both, Covishield (AstraZeneca/Oxford) and Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) are currently being administered in the country as part of the drive.