Norway and Iceland suspend use of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine;

`It is not possible to conclude whether there is any connection or not. We acted early and this issue needs a thorough investigation,` said Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke.

Other countries such as Italy and Romania also temporarily stopped vaccination from some specific shipments for further investigation.

As of March 10, European countries reported 30 cases of blood clots and blood vessel blockages out of a total of 5 million people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

According to Paul Hunter, professor of Medicine, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, scientists will record all side effects after using the vaccine.

`It is very likely that a group of similar side effects will be found that exist in any case, but they have nothing to do with the vaccine. However, we cannot ignore them. They all need to be thoroughly investigated.`

Medical staff prepare to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine in Copenhagen, February 2021.

According to Professor Hunter, one of the issues to consider is the prevalence of blood clotting.

Particularly large clots can damage muscle tissue or organs such as the heart, lungs, or brain.

`Given the current data, it appears that the reported side effects are not caused by the vaccine,` Hunter said.

According to Gonzalo Viña, a spokesman for AstraZeneca, the company’s documents do not note blood clotting issues.

Daniel Salmon, director of the Safety Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the fact that authorities recognized the problem of side effects and investigated them was a sign that the vaccination system was working properly.

`I would not yet draw a conclusion that the vaccine leads to blood clots. We need to look more carefully,` he said.

According to Dr. Salmon, fear will make people wary of vaccines – which is the hope of ending the pandemic.

Europe suspended the vaccine amid delays in the vaccination campaign, because AstraZeneca did not provide the promised level.

To date, more than 70 countries have approved the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.