Cumbria's Director of Public Health says there is "no evidence" that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots
Cumbria's Director of Public Health has reassured the public the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.
It comes after some European nations halted its rollout due to reports of some people suffering blood clots - though no link has been established with the vaccine
The regulator, which approved the vaccine for the EU, says it currently “remains convinced” that the “benefits of this vaccine outweigh the risk”.
Colin Cox said: "The decision of a number of countries to suspend use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is baffling.
"There have been 37 reports of blood clots following over 17 million doses of the vaccine being given - that's actually a lower incidence of blood clotting than you'd expect to see just by chance, so there's absolutely no evidence that the vaccine can cause blood clots."
This week, Sweden, Latvia, Germany, France and Italy announced they would join the growing list of countries to suspend the use of the vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) say there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and reports of blood clots.
Mr Cox added: "The fact that these figures are available at all shows just how carefully the safety of the vaccine is monitored, and far from being concerned about it I think people should be significantly reassured that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is both very safe and highly effective.
"A failure of vaccine roll-out is one of the reasons that many parts of Europe are now entering a third wave and further lockdowns. So if you are offered vaccination in the coming days I'd strongly urge you to take it - it is safe and effective."