EMA reiterates AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is 'safe and effective'

Europe's drugs regulator reiterated that the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is "safe and effective".

Speaking on Thursday, the director of the European Medicines Agency, Emer Cooke, also said it was "clear" that the benefits from the vaccine, which protects people from the risk of death or hospitalisation, outweigh the risks.

Cooke's statements followed an inquiry by the watchdog into 30 reported cases of blood-clotting among 5.0m people who had received the vaccine.

"If it were me, I would be vaccinated tomorrow," she said.

Financial markets and governments around the world had been eagerly awaiting the conclusions of the watchdog's probe.

In particular, the EMA was concerned by the risk of blood clots developing in the heads of patients.

As a precaution, France, Germany and Italy had temporarily suspended inoculations with the shot.

Nevertheless, the agency announced that it would update its guidance for the vaccine so that patients and healthcare workers were aware of the potential risks.

A separate review by AstraZeneca of 17m individuals who had been vaccinated in the European Union and UK had found no evidence of a higher risk of blood clots among recipients of the vaccine.