German state suspends AstraZeneca vaccine use for under-60s

People queue in front of the vaccination centre in Frankfurt, Germany (Michael Probst/AP)

The German state of Berlin is again suspending the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for people under 60 due to reports of blood clots.

Berlin’s top health official, Dilek Kalayci, said that the decision was taken as a precaution ahead of a meeting of representatives from all of Germany’s 16 states after the country’s medical regulator announced 31 cases of rare blood clots in people who had recently received the vaccine. Nine of the people died.