ROME, March 15 (Reuters) – Italy on Monday suspended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, making it the latest European country to put the product on hold following reports of recipients falling ill.
The announcement came shortly after Germany took the same step, and followed the seizure of hundreds of thousands of doses of the vaccine by Italian prosecutors in the northern region of Piedmont.
A health worker shows a AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and a syringe during the opening of a vaccination centre in a gymnasium of the university sports center in via Artom, amid the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic, in Turin, Italy, 14 March 2021. Most of Italy will be a COVID-19 red zone from 15 March 2021 due to a sharp rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. EPA-EFE/Alessandro Di Marco
The Italian medicines authority AIFA said it was taking the decision as a “precautionary and temporary measure” pending rulings by the European Medicines Agency. (Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Gavin Jones, editing by Crispian Balmer)
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