European regulatory body to hold extraordinary meeting on AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on March 18

The European Medicines Agency said it would hold an "extraordinary meeting' on Thursday on the AstraZeneca vaccine after key countries suspended its use over blood clot fears, adding that the benefits of using the jab still outweighed the risks.

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The EMA said in a statement that it would "further review the information" on the jab Tuesday, and had "called an extraordinary meeting on Thursday.... to conclude on the information gathered and any further actions that may need to be taken."