London-British Prime\u00a0Minister\u00a0Boris Johnson on Tuesday defended the safety of the AstraZeneca\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0vaccine, after several European countries halted its rollout over blood clot fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The British leader on Tuesday echoed assurances that the jab was not harmful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat vaccine is safe and works extremely well,\u201d Johnson wrote in The Times newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is being made in multiple places from India to the US, as well as Britain, and it is being used around the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fears have grown in some countries over the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine after several cases of blood clots or brain haemorrhages in people after receiving the inoculation, with a small number of deaths reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But AstraZeneca and medical experts in Britain have said there is no evidence of clots being caused by the jab or that they are occurring in greater numbers or frequency than in the general population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vaccine was developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in Britain, where more than 11 million doses have been administered, without any major problems reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, Johnson told reporters that Britain\u2019s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is \u201cone of the toughest and most experienced regulators in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey see no reason at all to discontinue the vaccination programme… for either of the vaccines that we\u2019re currently using,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey believe that they are highly effective in driving down not just hospitalisation but also serious disease and mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe continue to be very confident about the programme and it\u2019s great to see it being rolled out at such speed across the UK.\u201dA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
London-British Prime\u00a0Minister\u00a0Boris Johnson on Tuesday defended the safety of the AstraZeneca\u00a0coronavirus\u00a0vaccine, 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 […]<\/p>\n
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