Can we say European countries have made a mistake in halting AstraZeneca shots? Read what health experts say

Within the space of a few days, the rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has ground to a standstill in virtually all of western Europe.

France, Spain, Germany, Italy and more than a dozen other countries have paused rollout of the shot, calling it a precautionary measure following concerns that it could be linked to blood clots; decisions that go against the advice of global health agencies.

A few countries have stood by the vaccine -- including the United Kingdom, where more than 11 million doses have already been administered, and where real-world data has shown vaccines are reducing infections and hospitalizations.

The actions of European governments have surprised experts, and caused a myriad of questions among people who have had or are in line to get the shot.

But the pervading message from health experts is one of calm; when placed in context the reported cases of blood clotting are rare and no greater than numbers would be in the general population, while the vaccine has been proven to work in reducing Covid-19 cases.

"At the minute, I'm just not seeing any reason at all why any country would pause the AstraZeneca vaccine. It doesn't really make much sense to me," Michael Head, senior research fellow in Global Health at the University of Southampton, told CNN.

"These vaccines are to protect against a pandemic virus. There is an urgency to the rollout," he added.

"So pausing a vaccine campaign without a very good reason at this point in time just seems a bad move."

Reporting from CNN

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