The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will present its conclusions on a potential link between blood clots and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine later on Wednesday.

The agency started investigating a potential link after reports of blood clots emerged in several countries, with some researchers having found young women to be at particular risk of thrombosis, a potentially dangerous condition in which blood clots can obstruct blood flow after receiving the jab.

Several countries across the bloc suspended the use of AstraZeneca in mid-March but took it up again after the EMA indicated the vaccine was still safe for use after an initial review of the relevant data.

However, Germany once shelved AstraZeneca in late March, restricting the use to people older than 60 years amid persistent safety concerns.

France’s highest health authority also recommends the vaccination with AstraZeneca only for people over 55 years.

The head of the EMA’s vaccination department, Marco Cavaleri, told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero in an interview published on Tuesday that, according to his own assessment, there was a connection between incidents of blood clots in the brain and the AstraZeneca vaccinations that had not yet been determined more precisely.

The EU health ministers will convene in a video conference to discuss the EMA’s findings in the evening.

(dpa/NAN)