Australia’s government said that while its pharmaceutical regulator was monitoring those cases, there would be no pause in the roll-out of the vaccine.
“We’re getting on with the vaccine, we’re getting on with the roll-out,” Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told reporters in Melbourne.
Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said there is no evidence to suggest the vaccine caused blood clots.
“We do take them seriously and investigate,” Kelly said in an emailed statement, referring to the reports of blood clots.
Australia has secured about 54 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which Health Secretary Brendan Murphy this week described as the “the workforce vaccine for Australia”, with 50 million to be locally produced.
Australia’s vaccination roll-out has only just begun, but the conservative government is already under pressure over the speed of the COVID-19 inoculation programme.