BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union health ministers will hold a meeting on Wednesday on vaccine rollouts after the EU drugs regulator announces its decision on the safety of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, the EU presidency said.
Health Minister Marta Temido of Portugal, which holds the EU presidency, will host the gathering from 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) “following the public announcement of the conclusions of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee of EMA on the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” a spokeswoman for the Portuguese presidency wrote on Twitter.
EMA plans to announce its decision at 1400 GMT. Experts from the European drug authority have reviewed to what extent some cases of blood clotting in adults who had recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine may be linked to the injections.
“The meeting is aimed at harmonising the positions of the different EU member states, not only in order to halt the spread of disinformation, but also to reach a common understanding regarding vaccination efforts in the European Union,” the Portuguese presidency said in a statement.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Heinrich)
