France and Germany were set to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations Friday after EU regulators gave the jab the all-clear, and US President Joe Biden said his administration would meet its goal of inoculating 100 million Americans weeks ahead of schedule.
Days of commotion around the COVID-19 jab associated with blood clot risks saw countries from Venezuela to Indonesia put their AstraZeneca programmes on pause, hampering the drive to vaccinate populations worldwide against the disease that has killed more than 2.6 million people.
Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria also said they would resume vaccinations after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said Thursday that the jab was “safe and effective.”
Danish health authorities, however, say they will hold off for now on resuming use of the AstraZeneca vaccine despite an all-clear from EMA.
“Our decision to put vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on hold until week 12 (March 22-28) remains in effect,” the head of the Danish Health Authority, Soren Brostrom, said in a statement.
“In the coming days, the Danish Health Authority and the Danish Medicines Agency will assess the impact of EMA’s review of the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca on the Danish vaccination programme,” he added.
Last week, Denmark was the first country to suspend use of the AstraZeneca jab, a decision then followed by more than a dozen other mostly European countries.
The Scandinavian country is currently investigating 10 cases, including one fatality, where blood clots or blood clot symptoms arose after more than 140,000 people received the jab made by the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker.
Meanwhile, America was due Friday to administer its 100 millionth dose, boosting optimism – as infection rates fall — that the world’s worst-hit country is headed for a powerful rebound.
“I’m proud to announce that tomorrow, 58 days into my administration, we will have met my goal of administering 100 million shots to our fellow Americans,” Biden said in a White House speech.
But he also cautioned it “is a time for optimism but it’s not a time for relaxation.”