The National Immunisation Advisory Committee Has Recommended Suspending The Use Of The AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine

The vaccine has been temporarily suspended in Ireland

It follows new reports of serious blood clotting after vaccination.

Adrian Harmon reports:

'The Deputy Chief Medical Officer says the decision to temporarily suspend the use of AstraZeneca was taken following 4 new reports from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of serious blood clotting events after vaccination.

Dr. Ronan Glynn says while the link between the vaccine and the cases has not been concluded the decision was taken as a precautionary measure.

A number of countries, including Denmark, Norway and Iceland have already taken the decision to suspend its use over blood clotting concerns.

The World Health Organisation is also investigating, but the company itself has said as recently as Friday there is "no evidence" its vaccine causes an increased risk of blood clots.

As of last Wednesday, more than 109,000 doses of AstraZeneca have been administered here in Ireland.'