Germany halts use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Germany has temporarily stopped using AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine over fears of serious blood clots, the government announced on Monday.

This came after the national vaccine regulator the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut advised the government to suspend the use of AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution, the Health Ministry said on Twitter.

"Following new reports of thrombosis in the brain in connection with the vaccinations in Germany and Europe, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut believes that further studies are necessary," the ministry said.

"The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will decide whether and how the new findings would affect the approval of the vaccine," it added.

European countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, have suspended the use of AstraZeneca in recent weeks, after reports of people developing blood clots after receiving the jab.