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HEALTH-VIRUS-ITALY
Italy blocks AstraZeneca vaccine: regulator
ROME, March 15, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Italy’s medicines agency said on Monday
it had joined other European nations in blocking the use of the
AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine over fears of a link to blood clots.
The move comes just days after Italy’s AIFA regulator banned the use of a
single batch as a precaution, while insisting there was no established link
to the alleged side-effects.
“AIFA has decided to extend the ban on the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19
vaccine throughout Italy as a precautionary and temporary measure pending
European Medicines Agency (EMA) rulings,” it said in a statement on Monday.
Italy’s move followed that of Germany and France, which earlier Monday
said they would stop administering the jab.
Over the weekend, Ireland and the Netherlands both suspended the vaccine,
with a Dutch drugs watchdog saying there were potentially 10 cases of blood
clots linked to the vaccine.
In what health authorities said was a “precautionary measure”, the
northern Italian region of Piedmont suspended use of the vaccine on Sunday
after the death of a teacher who had received it the day before.
The World Health Organization and AstraZeneca have both said the vaccine
is safe.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 2217 hrs