The Indonesian government said Sunday (May 16, 2021) it has suspended the distribution and use of a batch of AstraZeneca Plc's coronavirus vaccine following the death of a 22-year-old man a day after his inoculation with the vaccine. The Ministry of Health called the suspension "a prudent effort by the government to ensure the safety of the vaccine," and said it plans to continue to use other batches of the vaccine it has received. Also read: Denmark stops AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rollout The results of sterility and toxicity tests by the Drug and Food Monitoring Agency are expected to come out within one to two weeks. The batch in question, consisting of about 450,000 doses, arrived last month. It is part of the 3,852,000 AstraZeneca doses that Indonesia has received through the World Health Organization-backed COVAX facility. Also read: Governments give varying advice on AstraZeneca vaccine COVAX is an international vaccine distribution platform set up to ensure equitable access to shots for developing countries. Local media reported that the man received a jab from the batch in the capital Jakarta on May 5 and died the next day. The batch had been distributed to Jakarta and North Sulawesi Province in central Indonesia, as well as to the military, according to the ministry. Also read: EU agency: Rare clots possibly linked to AstraZeneca shot Indonesia has fully inoculated almost 9 million of its 187 million eligible citizens under a nationwide vaccination drive that started in mid-January.

Denmark on Wednesday decided to entirely cease administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, said the country's health authority during a joint press conference with the Danish Medicines. "Based on the scientific findings, our overall assessment is there is a real risk of severe side effects associated with using the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca. We have, therefore, decided to remove the vaccine from our vaccination program," said Soren Brostrom, director general of the Danish Health Authority. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the authority also claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic was "currently under control" in Denmark, adding that this had contributed to the decision. Denmark first suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 11, citing "very rare but severe side effects" discovered during the jab's safety monitoring. Also read: UK advises limiting AstraZeneca in under-30s amid clot worry Denmark's decision on Wednesday to ditch the AstraZeneca shot came on the heels of the European Medical Agency's (EMA) recent verdict that "the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca continue to outweigh the risks for people who receive it." The Danish Health Authority agrees with the EMA's general findings, Brostrom said, adding that "In the midst of an epidemic, it has been a difficult decision to continue our vaccination program without an effective and readily available vaccine against COVID-19." However, the authority referred to further comments by the EMA that the "use of the vaccine during vaccination campaigns at the national level should also consider the pandemic situation and vaccine availability in each individual country." Also read: EU agency: Rare clots possibly linked to AstraZeneca shot "We are basically in agreement with the EMA's assessment regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine. That is why it is important to emphasize that it is still an approved vaccine," said Brostrom. "But if Denmark were in a completely different situation and in the midst of a violent third outbreak ... and if we had not reached such an advanced point in our rollout of the vaccines ... then I would not hesitate to use the vaccine, even if there were rare but severe complications associated with using it." According to the Statens Serum Institut's (SSI) updated overview, 149,884 people in Denmark have received at least one shot and 596 both shots of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. "Those who have received the first injection with AstraZeneca will later receive an invitation to vaccination with another vaccine," the health authority said. Also read: What we know about AstraZeneca blood clot reports Meanwhile, Denmark continues to administer the vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. In total, 995,672 Danes have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, which corresponds to 17 percent of the population, the SSI said on Wednesday.