AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine is safe and the benefits outweigh the risks, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has reported.

The EMA announced the result of its scientific assessment after some European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, temporarily stopped the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on suspicion of causing side effects such as blood clotting.

Emer Cooke, EMA Director, said: “this vaccine is safe and effective. The benefits of the vaccine in protecting people from Covid-19 disease are greater than their possible risks.” said.

Cooke said the EMA’s scientific committee’s review found no evidence that the vaccine increases the risk of blood clots in general.

Cooke said that after a few days of evaluation, they did not rule out the possibility of a link between these cases and the vaccine, and they wanted these possible risks to be added between product-related information.

Cooke also announced that they will conduct additional reviews, closely monitoring the 7 million people in EU countries and 11 million in the UK who have been vaccinated with the product. In total, fewer than 40 suspected cases have been found, EMA experts said.

Cooke said: “I want to stress that this situation we are seeing is not unexpected. If you vaccinate millions of people, it is inevitable that rare and serious events will occur immediately after vaccination. Our job is to identify them and determine whether they are related to the vaccine or occurred by chance after vaccination., “he said.

Asked by the public not to be suspicious of vaccines, Cooke said: “I would be vaccinated tomorrow.”used the phrase.

The administration of AstraZeneca, one of the first vaccines developed against Covid-19, was temporarily halted in some countries on suspicion that it could lead to blood clotting, causing conditions such as vascular blockage and lung embolism.

The World Health Organization also said that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, adding: “its use must continue to save lives.”he made his statement.