Australia has no plans to halt the use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said, as several European countries paused administering the vaccine after reports of possible serious side-effects.

Frydenberg said the European medicines regulator and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had confirmed that the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine was effective and safe to use, Reuters reported.

“So we will continue to proceed with the vaccine rollout of AstraZeneca,” Frydenberg told Sky News.

Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus joined several other European nations in temporarily suspending vaccinations with AstraZeneca shots after isolated reports of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet count.