BERLIN — The German state of Berlin is again suspending the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people under 60 due to additional reports of blood clots.
Berlin’s top health official said Tuesday that the decision was taken as a precaution after the country’s medical regulator announced 31 cases of rare blood clots in people who had recently received the vaccine. Nine of the people died.
The Paul Ehrlich Institute says all but two of the cases involved women ages 20 to 63.
Reports of an unusual form of blood clot known as sinus vein thrombosis prompted several European countries to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month.
Several weeks ago, the European Medicines Agency — the EU's top regulatory body in charge of medicine — said that the reports of clotting were not linked to the vaccine, and called the AstraZeneca vaccine "safe and effective."