COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 vaccineiStock

The European Union's drug regulatory agency issued a statement on Thursday saying that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in risk of blood clots but will nonetheless add a warning to the shot.

The benefits far outweigh the risks, the European Medicines Agency said.

The vaccine had been suspended in multiple EU countries in the last week after reports of rare types of blood clots developing in some people after being injected.

Led by Germany and France, the countries said they were waiting to get a ruling from the EU regulator before making the decision on whether to continue using the vaccine.

“Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19,” said the head of the EMA, Emer Cooke, the Associated Press reported.

She added that they “cannot rule out definitively a link” between getting the vaccine and the rare types of blood clots that occurred.

The EMA is recommending including a summary of these occurrences in the information leaflets with the vaccine so that health providers and patients would be informed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that it had found no evidence linking the vaccine to blood clots. It reiterated that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any small risk.

AstraZeneca also said it had found no link.