FIVE countries have halted the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccines over fears of fatal blood clots.
Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia have suspended use of one batch following a handful of dangerous blood clotting conditions in people who had recently had the jab.
The European Medicines Agency is now launching an investigation but at present there is no firm evidence to suggest the blood clots are actually linked to the vaccine and there have been no reports in the UK.
The suspension comes after a person in Austria died of multiple thrombosis – formation of blood clots within blood vessels – 10 days after their vaccine.
A second patient was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism – where blockages form in the arteries in the lungs – but is now recovering.
As of Tuesday this week, two other clotting conditions had been identified in patients in Austria that had received a dose from the same batch.
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