European AstraZeneca suspensions threaten global COVID-19 response

European countries are pausing the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over concerns of blood clots, colliding with expert opinion and creating a crisis of faith in the shot that could hamper progress to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sweden and Latvia on Tuesday joined more than a dozen other European countries, including Portugal, Germany and Italy, that have publicly announced they are temporarily suspending use of the vaccine following reports of blood clots.

Europe’s top medical regulator is insisting the vaccine is safe, and that the benefits of preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19 outweigh any possible side effects.

The agency has convened a safety committee of experts from across the European Union and beyond for an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss and release the findings of its investigation into reports of rare but dangerous blood clots in the brain and abnormal bleeding.

Bad idea: The flurry of suspensions is concerning health experts, who say the decisions do not seem to be supported by medical data. Not only could the pauses set back vaccination efforts across Europe, but they could have ripple effects across the world. Even if the countries resume vaccinating people in a few days, the damage might have been done. People could lose confidence in the vaccine and decide not to get it.