EMA 'Firmly Convinced' With Benefits Of AstraZeneca Vaccine Exceeding Risks: Report

Finally, the much-awaited safety review of blood clot reports is now complete and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that AstraZeneca Plc's AZN COVID vaccine is "safe and effective".

What Happened: The highly anticipated opinion comes at a time when the European Union is witnessing a vaccine shortage, and the bloc is suffering yet another surge in COVID-19 infection cases.

More than a dozen European Union countries including Germany, Italy, and France have suspended the use of AZN shot over unconfirmed reports of an increased rate of blood clots among the vaccine recipients.

So far, both the EMA and World Health Organization have said there is no evidence the vaccine is to blame.

Head of EMA Emer Cook earlier said that the regulator remained "firmly convinced" the benefit of continuing to use the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine outweighed the risks.

Why It Matters: The EMA could also issue an "additional warning" for the use of the vaccine, Cooke said.

The government now hopes to announce resumed vaccinations as soon as Thursday.

According to an earlier report by Reuters, Britain’s medicines regulator said there had been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the brain among 11 million given AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine but said that it found the benefits of the shot far outweighed any possible risks.

Separately, WHO is also review the blood clot cases reported in Europe, with findings to be shared tomorrow.

U.S. doctors are trying to alleviate fears related to AZN jab being unsafe.

White House Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anthony Fauci said "while the AstraZeneca vaccine hasn’t been authorized for use in the U.S. just yet, there will likely be enough safety and efficacy data to grant the vaccine authorization in April"

Indonesia while awaiting the review results said that the country will restart its AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 inoculations as soon as regulators give the go-ahead that the vaccine is safe for use.

Price Action: AZN shares are trading 0.9% lower at $49.57 in market trading hours on the last check Thursday.