London, UK - British health officials defended the AstraZeneca coronavirus jab on Wednesday, after multiple countries have temporarily suspended its use due to fears of blood clotting.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Jeremy Brown, a member of Britain's vaccine advisory committee, and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng all reinforced their support for the vaccine on Wednesday.

Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden and Venezuela on Tuesday joined the list of countries suspending the use of the AstraZeneca jab.

However, France and Italy said they were planning to recommence vaccinations on Tuesday after the European Medicines Agency deemed the vaccine to be safe.

Kwarteng told British broadcaster the BBC: "The first thing I would like to say is that the jab is safe... if people do get the call, I think they should take the jab."

Elsewhere, Brown, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said he did not believe the specific clot at the root of concerns in Germany "will turn out to be linked to the vaccine anyway" as it is a "rare event."

"Using that as a reason to stop using the vaccine when we know the vaccine prevents 85% to 90% admission to hospital is not sensible," he told British broadcaster ITV.

Echoing that sentiment, US health experts have warned that taking the vaccine off the market, even if it's just temporarily, was risky as it creates public fears around the AstraZeneca vaccine and could damage attitudes to other vaccines too.

Results of AstraZeneca's vaccine trial are currently being reviewed in the US, and emergency authorization for the 300 million pre-purchased doses could follow in April.