[ti:EU Official Says AstraZeneca Vaccine Safe as Countries Suspend Its Use] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A European Union health official said Tuesday there was "no indication" [00:04.88]that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine [00:07.84]caused blood clots in some people. [00:12.08]Emer Cooke, the head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), [00:16.68]spoke to reporters Tuesday. [00:20.36]She said there was "no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions." [00:27.60]The EMA director added, "While the investigation is ongoing, [00:32.64]we are currently still firmly convinced [00:35.36]that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, [00:40.60]with its associated risk of hospitalization, [00:44.12]outweigh the risk of the side effects." [00:48.44]The statement came after Sweden and Latvia [00:51.92]became the latest European countries to suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. [00:59.52]Anders Tegnell of the Swedish Public Health Agency [01:03.52]said earlier on Tuesday, "The decision is a precautionary measure." [01:09.72]He added Sweden would wait for the results [01:12.96]of the European Medicines Agency's study. [01:17.72]Denmark, Iceland, and Norway were the first countries [01:22.24]to temporarily stop using the vaccine. [01:26.32]Ireland announced a similar decision over the weekend. [01:31.80]On Monday, France, Germany, Spain and Italy [01:36.80]were among the countries that suspended use of the vaccine. [01:42.12]Their decision came after reports of bleeding and blood clots [01:46.92]among those who received the vaccine [01:49.56]made by AstraZeneca with the University of Oxford. [01:54.68]AstraZeneca had said earlier that there is no evidence [01:59.08]its vaccine carries an increased risk of blood clots. [02:04.80]By March 8, there have been 37 reports of blood clots [02:09.28]among the more than 17 million people [02:12.08]who have received the vaccine [02:14.12]across the EU and Britain, the company said. [02:19.72]Ann Taylor is AstraZeneca's Chief Medical Officer. [02:25.32]She added: "the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group [02:30.40]is lower than the hundreds of cases [02:32.76]that would be expected among the general population." [02:37.72]Both the World Health Organization (WHO) [02:40.20]and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) [02:43.12]said they are studying the cases. [02:47.08]The AstraZeneca vaccine is one of three vaccines [02:50.80]approved for emergency use in Europe. [02:55.16]The other two are made by the companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. [03:02.04]In the United States, health officials have approved vaccines [03:06.56]from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. [03:14.32]AstraZeneca is planning to seek [03:16.88]U.S. government approval in the coming months. [03:21.84]When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved [03:24.52]for emergency use in Britain last December, [03:28.16]the shot was described as the "vaccine for the world." [03:33.84]The vaccine costs much less than those from Pfizer and Moderna. [03:40.84]It also does not require extreme cold storage [03:45.32]making it easier to use in countries with limited resources. [03:52.32]COVAX is an international program [03:55.44]to deploy coronavirus vaccines to poor people around the world. [04:02.00]Last month, the program sent its first supply of 600,000 shots [04:08.60]made by AstraZeneca to the African country of Ghana. [04:14.56]Others have gone to Nigeria, Kenya [04:18.24]and the Asian countries of the Philippines and Indonesia. [04:24.36]The program hopes to provide at least 2 billion shots, [04:28.80]mainly from AstraZeneca, [04:31.12]especially to poor countries around the world. [04:36.36]The largest user of AstraZeneca's vaccine, however, is India. [04:42.84]The country is home to the Serum Institute of India [04:46.44]where most of the AstraZeneca vaccine is manufactured. [04:51.96]Health officials reported that over 23.4 million people [04:57.00]have received the AstraZeneca shot in India. [05:01.92]That is out of 25.6 million people [05:05.68]who have been vaccinated in that country. [05:09.84]Health officials told the Press Trust of India news agency on Saturday [05:15.80]that 234 cases of adverse events [05:20.12]had been reported after receiving any vaccine. [05:25.40]That number includes 71 deaths. [05:29.80]However, they said there is no link to the vaccine. [05:35.08]The government is now studying the cases for a final study. [05:41.04]In Thailand, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha [05:44.52]received his first of the two-shot AstraZeneca vaccine. [05:50.32]He said, "There are people who have concerns. [05:54.04]But we must believe doctors, [05:56.68]believe in our medical professionals." [06:00.08]I'm Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM