World

Latvia suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine

  • The measure will be in effect for up to two weeks, they added.
Published March 16, 2021

RIGA: Latvian health authorities said Monday they were temporarily suspending the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, following the lead of other countries to have paused rollouts over blood clot fears.

Latvia's "health authorities are asking doctors not to use the opened vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine and not to open new ones," the Baltic state's health agencies said in a joint statement.

They said they were halting the use of the vaccine "as a precautionary measure" based on reports of side effects from other EU countries, while adding that no such cases have been confirmed in Latvia.

The measure will be in effect for up to two weeks, they added.

The European Medicines Agency will hold a special meeting on Thursday to decide whether measures are needed over concerns that some people developed blood clots after being inoculated.

The World Health Organization said countries should continue to use the jab, adding it would convene its expert panel on Tuesday to review the vaccine's safety.

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