NEW DELHI (AP) – India reported Wednesday that it will continue to apply AstraZeneca’s vaccine for COVID-19 with “full force,” as it has seen no signs of it causing clots in people who receive it.
Government health expert VK Paul said the Ministry of Health was aware of the possible problem of blood clots, but added that “today there is no concern.”
About 10 European countries have stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure.
This is happening as coronavirus infections have skyrocketed in various parts of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday ordered increased surveillance and testing to halt a “second spike” of coronavirus infections. He warned that the country was at risk of a nationwide outbreak if authorities did not stop localized waves.
The Health Ministry said that confirmed cases in 125 of the more than 700 districts of India increased between 100% and 150% in the last two weeks.
Modi said the infections have spread from the largest cities to the smallest and pose a danger to villages where large crowds of people live.
On Wednesday, India reported 28,903 new confirmed infections after falling to less than 10,000 a day in February. The daily figures brought the country’s total case count to more than 11.4 million. As of Wednesday, it was the third highest number in the world behind the United States and Brazil.
India began its vaccination campaign on January 16 and has so far administered 35.1 million doses across the country. It approved the emergency use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and another produced by the Indian company Bharat Biotech.
