ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the suspension of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine use by a number of European states, and indicated that their countries were ready to continue using the vaccine shortly after, the Chigi government palace said in a statement.
The conversation between the two leaders took place after a press conference by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). At it, its director, Emer Cooke, said that the regulator still believed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed the risks associated with it.
"This is a temporary precautionary measure, which will last until March 18, pending the announcement of the results of additional tests by the EMA. The preliminary statements from the EMA are encouraging," the statement said.
"In case of a positive outcome," Italy and France are ready to quickly return to the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the two leaders indicated.
Over a dozen countries worldwide stopped using the UK-Swedish vaccine following several cases of post-inoculation side effects such as thrombosis. The EMA is currently probing the possible link between the AstraZeneca shots and the increased occurrence of blood clots, a matter that prompted such European states as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway to temporarily pause the use of the vaccine.
