While the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been suspended in many countries, the European Medicines Agency reiterated its confidence in the effectiveness of the vaccine on Tuesday afternoon.
She is also looking at the "side effects associated with all vaccines" against the coronavirus for added safety.
The European regulator to the rescue of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday it was "firmly convinced" of the benefits of this vaccine against Covid-19, the use of which is suspended by several countries worried about possible side effects.
"We remain firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalization and death, outweigh the risk of these side effects," said the executive director of EMA, Emer Cooke.
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The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is also "examining" the "side effects associated with all vaccines" against the coronavirus.
Attention is currently focused on the AstraZeneca vaccine "due to the incidents reported in Europe", but "we have looked at (...) all the vaccines currently in circulation", explained Emer Cooke, in response to a question about cases of blood clots worldwide.
Germany, France, Italy ...
Seven European states (Germany, France, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal and Latvia) on Monday extended the list of countries that have suspended the administration of the vaccine from the Swedish-British laboratory as a precaution following these problems, such as difficulties in coagulating or the formation of clots (thrombosis), while awaiting an opinion from the EMA.
Sweden, Luxembourg and Cyprus followed suit on Tuesday.
The Amsterdam-based EMA reiterated its position on Tuesday that the vaccine developed by the Swedish-British laboratory AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford remains safe to use.
Emer Cooke said the European regulator remained "firmly convinced" that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks.
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"Not excluded" remedies
Astrazeneca says there is "no evidence of an increased risk" of a blood clot caused by its vaccine.
And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson assured Tuesday that this vaccine, widely administered in the United Kingdom, was "safe" and "extremely" effective.
For AstraZeneca, these disappointments are added to a further drop in its deliveries to the European Union by June, which the laboratory was forced to announce citing export problems.
The EU "does not rule out" legal remedies against the laboratory, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune said on Tuesday, deploring the delays.
The EU also expects "more than 200 million doses" of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in the second quarter, after an agreement providing for an "acceleration" of deliveries, the Commission said on Tuesday.
AstraZeneca for its part announced an agreement with the United States to provide the country this year with up to 700,000 doses of an antibody treatment under development against Covid-19.