France will stop administering AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine as a "precaution" pending a new assessment by the European Union's medicines regulator, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday, following a similar announcement by the German and Italian governments, reports FRANCE 24.
“The decision has been made ... to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution, hoping that we can resume its use quickly if the judgement of the EMA (European Medicines Agency) allows it,” Macron said at a press conference, adding that an EMA announcement was expected Tuesday afternoon.
Spain is also suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for at least a fortnight, the health minister said Monday.
“We have decided to temporarily suspend [use of the AstraZeneca vaccine] as a precaution for at least the next two weeks," Health Minister Carolina Darias told reporters just hours after Germany, France and Italy announced similar moves.
She said the decision would remain in place until the EMA “analyses the recent incidences of blood clots, notably over the weekend”.
The German health ministry said earlier on Monday that it was suspending the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine as a precaution and on the advice of the national vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), which called for further investigation of the cases.
“After new reports of thromboses of the cerebral veins in connection with the vaccination in Germany and Europe, the PEI considers further investigations to be necessary,” said the health ministry.