(Adds further health ministry comment, background)
BERLIN, March 15 (Reuters) - Germany will stop administering
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, a spokesman for the
Health Ministry said on Monday, making Germany the latest of
several European countries to pause following reports of
recipients being taken ill.
The ministry said the decision followed a recommendation
from the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany's authority in charge
of vaccines.
"Following a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich Institute,
the government is, out of caution, halting the administration of
the AstraZeneca vaccine," the ministry said in a statement,
adding that Health Minister Jens Spahn would provide further
details at a news conference at 4 pm local time (1500 GMT).
Several EU countries have called a halt to the AstraZeneca
vaccine after reports from Denmark and Norway of possible
serious side-effects, including bleeding and blood clots.
Last week, Lothar Wieler, head of Germany's Robert Koch
Institute for Infectious Diseases, said there was no evidence
that patients who received the vaccine were more likely than
patients of a similar age group to suffer blood conditions.
Many millions of people in Britain have so far received the
British-Swedish pharma company's vaccine.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Maria Sheahan)