Health Desk – 15 Jan,2021: The Netherlands on Sunday joined a fast-growing list of countries suspending use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after reports of unexpected possible side effects from the injection.
The vaccine will not be used until at least March 29 as a precaution, the Dutch government said in a statement.
The announcement will lead to delays in rolling out shots in the Netherlands, which had pre-ordered 12 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Health authorities had scheduled around 290,000 AstraZeneca injections in the coming two weeks.
The move, which follows a similar decision by Ireland earlier in the day, is based on reports from Denmark and Norway of possible serious side effects, the government said.