Sweden suspends use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

Sweden’s health agency said on Tuesday it was pausing vaccinations against COVID-19 using AstraZeneca’s vaccine as a precautionary measure.

At the same time, Latvian government health agencies on Tuesday also announced a “temporary suspension” of up to two weeks of the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in the country.

The move is “an additional precaution” while the vaccine is scrutinized, and no problems have been linked to its use in Latvia, the agencies said in a statement.

“The decision is based on reports from individual European Union countries of thromboembolism and similar cases observed at various times after receiving the vaccine,” they said. “To date, there is no data on the causal link between vaccination and serious health problems.”

Germany, France and Italy said on Monday they would stop administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after several countries reported possible serious side-effects.