Other EU countries, including Germany, Spain and Italy, also temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine last year when it was linked to a tiny risk of blood clots. The EU would later perform a U-turn and it is now the world’s single biggest distributor of the British-made vaccine, according to OurWorldInData.
Most European nations returned to using the AstraZeneca vaccine in some capacity, but others, like Sweden and Denmark, have not. The US has never approved the jab.
Blood clot concerns also led to the jab no longer being used in under-40s in the UK, and it is only given as a booster if a person is likely to have a bad reaction to an mRNA alternative.
But the AstraZeneca vaccine has been heralded for its rollout in less wealthy countries as part of the Covax programme.
Data show that it is now the most widely-distributed vaccine in the world, with almost 2.6 million doses given out in 170 different countries. More Pfizer doses have been given, but in fewer nations.
Figures from Airfinity, a health analytics company, show that 74 per cent of AstraZeneca doses were given in low or low-middle income countries.
Scientists have suggested the UK’s widespread use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and its early rollout to elderly and vulnerable people, could be responsible for the relatively low death toll from omicron compared to countries in Europe.
Dr Clive Dix, former chairman of the Vaccine Task Force, told The Telegraph that he believed the AstraZeneca jabs offered more robust, long-term protection against severe disease and death than RNA-based alternatives made by Pfizer and Moderna.
A total of 170 countries are using the vaccine, via either their own approval processes or through Covax. They include Britain, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Poland, Peru, Ukraine and Ecuador.
