Germany is again suspending the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under the age of 60 due to reports of blood clots, AP reported.

Berlin's health minister Dilek Kalayci said the decision was taken as a precautionary measure after the country's medical regulator announced 31 rare blood clots in people who had recently received the vaccine. Nine people died. All but two cases involved women between the ages of 20 and 63, according to the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany's regulatory medical authority.

An unusual form of a blood clot in the head, known as sinus vein thrombosis, prompted several European countries to temporarily stop using the AstraZeneca vaccine in early March.

The European Medicines Agency concluded that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks, but recommended warning patients and doctors about possible rare side effects. Since then, most countries in the European Union have resumed the use of the vaccine.

Earlier on Tuesday, two public hospitals in Berlin announced they would end vaccination against the AstraZeneca COVID-19 for female employees under the age of 55. Heads of five university hospitals in West Germany have called for a temporary halt to vaccinations for all young women, citing the risk of blood clots.
So far, about 2.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in Germany.