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Portugal's PM Calls for Calm Among Those Given AstraZeneca Jab

  • Republican National Guard members wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Lisbon, Portugal, Feb. 13, 2021.

    Republican National Guard members wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Lisbon, Portugal, Feb. 13, 2021. | Photo: Xinhua

Published 17 March 2021
Opinion

Antonio Costa recalled that he himself had been given the first shot of the vaccine and that he "looks forward to the second dose."

In an attempt to assuage concerns among those who had received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Tuesday that the country's decision to suspend the jab was "just for precaution."

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"People need to understand what is happening: these suspensions are only provisional. The World Health Organization (WHO) is doing a review of the data, the European Medicines Agency will comment until the end of the week," he said.

Costa recalled that he himself had been given the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine and that he "looks forward to the second dose," which he will receive in May.

"All the scientific evidence shows that the [AstraZeneca] vaccine is a safe vaccine and that it is effective. To all who took the first dose of the vaccine, I tell you to be calm and confident," he stressed.

"I hope that by the end of this week, everything will be cleared up and we can resume this vaccination plan as normal," he concluded.

The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) decided on Monday to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, joining the growing ranks of their peers making the same decision over blood clot concerns.

So far, Portugal has vaccinated 1,163,873 people against COVID-19, 824,313 of them given the first dose, and 339,560 both doses. The country recorded 384 new COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

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