the biggest member states of the
european union have now joined the list
of nations questioning the performance
of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine
germany france spain and italy are all
taking
the precautionary measure of suspending
use of the vaccine
because of fears about possible side
effects including blood clots
the astrazeneca vaccine has already been
suspended in the netherlands
ireland iceland bulgaria denmark and
norway
the world health organization along with
the eu's very own medicines regulator
say that there is no justification for
this temporary ban
and leading british scientists insist
that the vaccine is safe
our medical editor fergus walsh has the
latest
a public display of confidence in the
oxford astrazeneca vaccine
from northern ireland's chief medical
officer today
by contrast you can't have the jab in
the irish republic
in france germany and a growing list of
eu countries
which have temporarily suspended its use
this is a safe effective vaccine as
recommended by mhra
and let's remember this virus kills
people kills people my age
younger people and older people and the
benefit is strongly
in favor of people getting this vaccine
at this time
the eu vaccine rollout was already
lagging well behind that of the uk
france has said it'll wait for a safety
analysis
from the european medicines agency due
tomorrow before deciding whether to
restart using the
oxford astrazeneca vaccine the decision
the decision which is being taken is to
suspend as a precaution
vaccinating with the astrazeneca vaccine
in the hope that we can resume quickly
if the opinion of the european medicines
agency allows
10 european countries have temporarily
suspended all use
of the oxford astrazeneca vaccine
pending safety investigations
germany italy france spain and the
netherlands are the latest
ireland paused at the weekend following
denmark norway and
iceland several other eu countries
including austria
have stopped using certain batches of
the vaccine
that still leaves several eu nations
using the jab
which has been approved in over 70
countries around the world
astrazeneca says more than 17 million
people in the uk
and european union have now had its
vaccine
and fewer than 40 cases of blood clots
have been reported it says the risks of
having a clot
are significantly lower among those
who've been vaccinated
compared to the general population we
know that blood clots are
remarkably common and we'd expect them
to happen in
one to two people per thousand per year
which is actually a very large number
and and much much higher
than the sorts of levels that we're
talking about in these particular
reports
scientists in the uk are frankly baffled
by the decisions made
in the eu there's concern that the pause
in using the astrazeneca jab
will cost lives because people won't be
protected from covid
and that it will damage public
confidence in a highly effective vaccine
fergus walsh bbc news let's talk a
little more about this and join our
europe editor katja adler in brussels
katya plenty of reports from across the
eu of
vaccine hesitancy and it's getting worse
in some areas
so this isn't going to help is it
well absolutely not and if you think
about the ostra astrazeneca
jab hugh there was already quite a lot
of european hesitancy
around it and that is due to mixed
messages from a number of european
leaders
earlier on in the year as to how
efficient they thought the vaccine was
for the over 65s
add on into that the fact that many in
mainland europe who are much more
vaccine-wary than the majority of the
public in the uk
so yes european governments say they
realize how sensitive
their decision is if they've decided to
temporarily halt
the rollout of the astrazeneca vaccine
but they say
actually they're trying to do it to
restore public
confidence you while it's being
investigated so we're seeing
country by country inside the eu and the
rest of europe making this decision
but they are waiting for a pan-european
verdict we heard that
from fergus from the european medicines
agency and while it's investigating
those reports of blood clots
hugh it says that it thinks that the
virtues of the
oxford astrozenica virus far outweigh
any risk because the eu
needs vaccines it doesn't have enough of
them anyway hugh because there's been
problems
with delivery and even with the vaccines
that the eu has
many countries have had lots of
stumbling blocks with their national
role
rollouts the eu lags way behind the uk
the us never mind israel we're trying to
get jabs
into arms and all of this while many
european countries
are facing the third wave of the
coronavirus just look at italy
reintroducing restrictions just today
katya many thanks sir again
uh katya adler there europe editor in
brussels and just to pick up on the last
point
katya was making there as we were saying
italy is one of the countries
suspending the use of the astrazeneca
vaccine and italy is now facing a third
wave of the pandemic
with a sharp rise in the rate of
infections so the government is
introducing new restrictions
including the closure of schools shops
and restaurants more than half the
country is affected
and for three days over easter that's in
early april
there will be a full national shutdown
as our correspondent mark lowen reports
from milan
for 95 years guido dinardo's family have
dressed the men of milan
his boutique passing down from his
grandparents
but these 12 months have ruined him with
losses of 75
and now closing for another lockdown
even
europe's fashion capital is fraying
i hope we don't have to shut down
completely like so many others here
when i think of how this shop was my
parents and grandparents life
it makes me want to cry i'm only staying
open for my children
if it were up to me i would have given
up already
a third wave fueled by the british
variant has closed
shops restaurants and schools in over
half of italy's regions
including here in lombardy where
europe's first wave exploded a year ago
for families it's like being stuck in
time for the covet generation
it's like time stolen we feel pretty
dreadful
it's like back to square one after
a year it's incredible that we haven't
the
government the schools haven't had the
chance to think about an alternative we
look at israel
we look at the us and we look at the uk
thinking
wow things are working there yeah and
here
not really turbo charging
italy's slow vaccine rollout this
drive-through center
opened today in milan the government
pledging to almost double
daily jabs now and triple them by mid
april
well italy is finally in full vaccine
mobilization but there's frustration
here that it's taken
weeks to get to this point yes there
have been supply problems but only now
are the drive-throughs starting and jabs
also in schools
theaters and gyms in the race between
vaccine and virus there's a feeling that
italy has let the latter
win for too long but just hours after
vaunting its vaccine increase italy
halted astrazeneca jabs
kovid's fix thrown into doubt
as the pandemic drags on it's taking the
new
poor with it three and a half thousand a
day
now come to this handout the price of
survival in this
italy's financial capital
it's a disaster says rosanna whose
mother died of kovid
neither my family nor i can find work
now
at least this stops me sleeping under
the bridge
from the exhausted to the fearful
italians are desperate for a sign of
hope
but for the first western country
engulfed by the virus
its longed for path out has been pushed
back again
hugh that way out won't be eased by
concerns over the astrazeneca vaccine
and
italy's suspension of it but the large
majority of vaccines administered here
so
far have been pfizer last year italy
became the first country in the world to
impose a national lockdown
exactly two weeks before britain as you
can see here tonight
this tired nation is once again shut at
home
desperately hoping that this will be the
last lockdown
sacrifice it'll be called to make
mark many thanks for the latest there
milan mark lowe and our correspondent
there