More countries pause AstraZeneca vaccine

Germany reversed course on Monday just days after saying it would continue distributing the COVID-19 shot from AstraZeneca. France, Italy, Spain, and Thailand are also among the dozen or so countries that have halted use of the vaccine following reports of some recipients experiencing dangerous blood clots. Britain and Canada are still distributing it.

What do we know? AstraZeneca has insisted the shot is safe, saying there have only been 37 reports of clots out of 17 million recipients. The European Union’s drug regulatory agency plans to meet Thursday to review the data. The World Health Organization joined the European Medicines Agency in saying there was no evidence the vaccine caused the clots. AstraZeneca will likely apply for emergency use authorization in the United States in the next few weeks.

Dig deeper: Read John Dawson’s report in Beginnings about the three vaccines available in the United States.