AstraZeneca vaccine not linked to overall increased risk of blood clots, benefits outweigh risks, says Europe’s drug regulator

Europe’s drug regulator says the AstraZeneca vaccine is not linked to overall increased risk of blood clots, and that the benefits of use outweigh the risks.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), of the European Union, also said they found no quality or batch issues with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The findings arrive after concerns over the blood clots led to more than a dozen European countries suspending the use of the vaccine over the past week.

Emer Cooke, head of the EMA, said the agency “cannot rule out definitively a link” between rare types of blood clots and the vaccine.

The EMA recommended adding a description of these cases to the vaccine leaflets so health workers and patients would be aware.

“Our scientific position is that…