(Bloomberg) -- Norway has been told to stop using AstraZeneca Plc in its Covid-19 inoculation program, as the country’s top health authority judges the risk of blood clots unacceptable.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health “has recommended stopping further use of” Astra’s vaccine, it said in a statement on Thursday. The announcement came just a day after Denmark became the first European nation to cut Astra from its inoculation plan.

“There is now significantly more knowledge about the connection between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the rare and serious incidents of low platelets, blood clots and bleeding,” said Geir Bukholm, a director at the institute. “Based on this knowledge, we have arrived at a recommendation that the AstraZeneca vaccine be removed from the coronary vaccination program.”

The government said it will make a formal decision, based on the health authority’s guidance.

Norway initially put Astra on hold on March 11, after reports of blood clots across a number of countries. Norwegian health authorities then embarked on their own investigation following a spate of local deaths tied to Astra’s vaccine. A separate Norwegian study has since found that the blood clots stemmed from a syndrome induced by the Astra vaccine.

Both European and British drug regulators have said they found a link between Astra’s vaccine and blood clots, but said benefits still outweigh the risks. Most Western European countries have limited their use of the company’s vaccine to the elderly, while in Eastern Europe Astra has largely been reinstated with no limitations.

In response to Denmark’s announcement on Wednesday, an Astra spokesperson said, “We recognize and respect the decision.”

“Implementation and rollout of the vaccine program is a matter for each country to decide, based on local conditions,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to collaborate with the regulators and local authorities to provide all available data to inform their decisions.”

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health told Aftenposten in March that dropping the AstraZeneca vaccine won’t dramatically impact its inoculation timeline. The country has enough ICU beds to handle a surge in infections without the vaccine, according to modeling by the institute.

Still, with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine now also being suspended, potential supply issues are a growing risk. If both the Astra and J&J vaccines aren’t available, Norway’s inoculation timeline will be pushed back by as many as 12 weeks, health authorities said on Tuesday.

Astra’s vaccine was expected to make up about a fifth of doses in Norway’s total immunization program.

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