Health Secretary Matt Hancock will host a Downing Street COVID-19 briefing at 5pm this evening.
The Health Secretary will be joined by Mary Ramsey, head of immunisation for Public Health England, and deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam.
It is expected that further details will be presented regarding the decision by several countries to temporarily suspend the rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of a small number of blood clots affecting some of those that have had the vaccine.
The WHO (World Health Organisation) this afternoon released the following statement:
“The WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety is carefully assessing the latest available safety data for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Once that review is completed, WHO will immediately communicate the findings to the public,” it said in a statement.
“At this time, WHO considers that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.”
