EU health officials urge use of AstraZeneca vaccine

The European Medicines Agency plans to release a recommendation on Thursday on the safety of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shots. But in the meantime, the drug regulator said there is “no indication” the vaccine causes blood clots. AstraZeneca said the 37 reports of blood clots among more than 17 million recipients is a lower rate than experts would expect among the general population.

Have more countries paused use of the shot? Sweden on Tuesday became the latest to temporarily halt distribution. Only a handful of European nations, including Britain, have decided to press on with the vaccine. The decision to hold off on using the cheaper and lower maintenance AstraZeneca vaccine is weightier in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo that rely on it more heavily. Thailand had paused distribution but changed its mind on Tuesday when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha received a dose.

Dig deeper: Listen to Sarah Schweinsberg’s report on The World and Everything in It on the increasing demand for vaccine doses in the United States.