Denmark becomes first country to permanently stop administering AstraZeneca vaccine

Denmark will cease to administer AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine entirely following its possible link to very rare cases of blood clots, several Danish media outlets reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

The decision, which removes the shot from Denmark’s vaccination scheme, will delay Denmark’s vaccine roll-out by a few weeks, TV 2 said.

Danish health authorities will hold a press briefing at 1200 GMT, where they are expected to announce the decision to halt using the vaccine.

The European Union’s drug watchdog said last week it had found a possible link between the vaccine and very rare blood clot cases, but said the risk of dying from COVID-19 was “much greater” than the risk of mortality from rare side effects.

Denmark, the first country to initially suspend all usage of the vaccine in March over safety concerns, has also put Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine on pause pending further investigations into a possible link to rare blood clot cases.