No reason to stop using Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine: WHO

The World Health Organization said Friday there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine after several countries suspended the rollout over blood clot fears.

"Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters, adding: "There is no indication to not use it."

Several countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine since Thursday over blood clot fears, prompting Europe's medical agency to quickly reassure the public there were no known health risks linked to the jab.

The melee over the vaccine came as the world marked one year since the pandemic was officially declared, and threatened to dim hopes that inoculations are the ticket to returning to normal life.

The virus has now killed more than 2.6 million people, subjected billions to anti-Covid restrictions, and left the global economy in tatters -- an outcome unimaginable at the outset of the crisis.

A year on, several countries are looking to peel back restrictions put in place after second -- or even third -- waves and ramp up vaccine rollouts as a way out of the crisis.

But that momentum hit a snag Thursday as Denmark, Norway, and ... of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot over fears it could be linked to blood clots.

Italy joined them, banning a batch of the vaccine as a precaution, even as its medicines regulator said there was currently no established link with the alleged side-effects.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) issued a statement seeking to assuage fears.

"The information available so far indicates that the number of thromboembolic events in vaccinated people is no higher than that seen in the general population," the EMA told AFP by email.