KINSHASA, March 12 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of
Congo has delayed the rollout of AstraZeneca coronavirus
vaccines, citing the suspension of the use of the shots by
several European countries, two health ministry spokesmen said
on Friday.
Congo received 1.7 million AstraZeneca doses via the global
COVAX vaccine-sharing programme on March 2, but is yet to start
its inoculation programme.
A World Health Organization expert advisory committee is
currently looking at AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine after some
countries paused distribution of the shot, but a spokeswoman
said there is no reason not to use it.
Health authorities in Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria
have suspended the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine following
reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had
been vaccinated.
"We hear that in Europe there are several countries that
have suspended the vaccine. We are going to check to know more
about this problem," a spokesperson for Congo's health ministry
told Reuters.
The sprawling central African country has confirmed 28,846
cases of the virus, of which 712 have died.
(Reporting by Fiston Mahamba and Hereward Holland; Writing by
Bate Felix; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich)