Denmark health authorities said on Thursday that they are temporarily suspending the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine as a precautionary measure after some patients developed blood clots since receiving the jab, including one who died.
The move comes "following reports of serious cases of blood clots among people vaccinated with AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine", the Danish Health Authority said in a statement.
But it cautiously added that "it has not been determined, at the time being, that there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots".
Regional authorities in charge of vaccine rollout have been asked to stop using the AstraZeneca jab until further notice.
Meanwhile, Austria on Monday announced that it had suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines after a 49-year-old nurse died of "severe blood coagulation problems" days after getting the Covid vaccine shot.
As of March 9, 22 cases of blood clots were reported among more than three million people who have been inoculated in the European Economic Area, the EMA said.
The report added that there is "good evidence that the vaccine is both safe and effective", but that it would consult with the Danish medicines agency in two weeks on the matter.
"It is important to point out that we have not terminated the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, we are just pausing its use," Danish Health Authority Director Soren Brostrom said in the statement.
Four other European countries -- Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg -- have also halted the use of vaccines from this batch, which was sent to 17 European nations, consisting of one million jabs. However, Denmark has completely suspended the use of all of its AstraZeneca supply.
According to the health authority, one person had died after receiving the vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Denmark has launched an investigation into the death.
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"There is broad documentation proving that the vaccine is both safe and efficient. But both we and the Danish Medicines Agency must act on information about possible serious side-effects, both in Denmark and in other European countries," Brostrom said.
The suspension, which will be reviewed after two weeks, is expected to slow down Denmark's vaccination campaign, the report said.
Copenhagen expects to vaccinate its entire adult population by mid-August instead of early July, the health authority said.