The benefits of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine far outweigh any risks, and countries across Europe should continue to use it to help save lives in the pandemic, the World Health Organization’s European director Hans Kluge announced on Thursday.

Kluge said Europe’s medicines regulators are investigating a small number of cases of blood clots in the region that have prompted around a dozen EU governments to suspend us of the AstraZeneca vaccine dose.

“As of now, we do not know whether some or all of the conditions have been caused by the vaccine or by other coincidental factors,” he said, adding: “At this point in time, however, the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh its risks – and its use should continue, to save lives.”