European Medicines Agency supports use of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine

BRUSSELS - The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Tuesday that benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine outweigh risks despite finding possible links to very rare cases of blood clots.

On Tuesday, the EMA's safety committee said a warning should be added to the product information about the "very rare side effects" and health care professionals should inform their patients about the symptoms.

US company Johnson & Johnson halted the shipment of its jabs to countries in the European Union while awaiting clarification on the matter.

However, the EMA generally stood by its previous assessment, reiterating that the benefits of the jab in preventing Covid-19 outweighed the risk of side effects.

The "overall benefit-risk remains positive," the EU regulator said in a statement.

Europe's Johnson & Johnson campaign was delayed after US health regulators said the shot should be paused over blood clot fears.