Cheap and easy to store, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has boosted the global fight against coronavirus but fears over cases of rare blood clots and production delays have marred its rollout. Here are five facts about the vaccine.
PRACTICALITY
The AstraZeneca vaccine costs about £2.50 ($3.40, 2.75 euros) per dose and can be kept at refrigerator temperatures, making it ideal for large-scale vaccination programmes.
The vaccine has been authorised for use in more than 70 countries, AstraZeneca says.
More than 9.2 million jabs have been administered in the European Economic Area, including the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
BLOOD CLOT FEARS
Cases of rare blood clots in vaccinated people have prompted numerous countries to halt or limit rollout.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on March 31 that there had been 62 cases worldwide of a rare clotting condition, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, 44 of them in the European Economic Area.
Thirty cases of rare blood clotting conditions have been recorded in Britain, and seven people have died.
AstraZeneca said in mid-March that there was "no evidence" of higher risk of blood clots from its vaccine.
But as a result, Denmark and Norway have paused vaccinations.
Some countries rejected a batch of vaccines after an Austrian nurse died from multiple thrombosis following vaccination and another person suffered a pulmonary embolism.
Many countries have resumed the vaccine's use only for older people, aged 55 and above because the blood clots affected younger people.
These include France, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, as well as Canada.
The EMA said 18 March that the AstraZeneca jab is safe and effective.
Some countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain resumed full rollout after reassurance from the EMA.
The EMA is expected to announce updated advice on 7 April.
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