The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca is safe and effective and there is no link between it and a higher risk of thromboembolic events, however, one cannot rule out a link between such events and vaccination, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) stated on Thursday.

EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) has made a clear conclusion about safety and effectiveness of AstraZenca vaccine, the EMA executive director, Emer Cooke, said today.

This vaccine is not associated with a higher thromboembolic risk, however, following a period of the analysis of laboratory outcomes, clinical trials and autopsies one still cannot rule out the link between such cases and vaccination, she said.

Cooke notes when millions of people are inoculated, one cannot discard possibilities of the few cases of development of such disorder.

In the European Union, seven million have to date received COVID jabs, and in the UK 11 million people.

Therefore, PRAC recommends paying more attention to thromboembolic events and will launch additional evaluations to get a better insight into those rare cases.