Italy under fresh curbs, and Dutch, Irish halt jabs

ROME－Coronavirus restrictions were reimposed across much of Italy on Monday, while Ireland and the Netherlands became the latest countries to suspend AstraZeneca's shots over blood clot fears despite the company and the WHO insisting there is no such risk.

More than 350 million vaccine doses have been administered globally so far. The AstraZeneca shot－among the cheapest available－is crucial to rollouts in some parts of the world.

Despite immunization programs gathering pace, surges in infections remain a threat and Italian authorities put back restrictions on three-quarters of the country until April 6 to suppress an outbreak fueled by the variant first detected in Britain.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said on Sunday the government hoped these strict measures and ongoing vaccinations would allow a relaxation of curbs later.

"Each dose of vaccine injected is a step in the direction of the way out of the crisis," he added.

Schools, restaurants, shops and museums have closed, including in Rome and Milan, with residents told to stay home except for work, health or other essential reasons.

The coronavirus has killed more than 2.6 million people around the world, with much of humanity going through varying levels of restrictions.

France, which is hoping to avoid another national lockdown, is facing a hospital crisis with intensive care beds in the Paris region running out.

The Netherlands－under tight restrictions including an overnight curfew－began three days of voting on Monday in a popularity test of the government's coronavirus policies.

Fears over blood clots

As they battle virus surges, health authorities in Italy and France have backed the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, several countries suspended use of the shot over fears it causes side effects such as blood clots.

Ireland and the Netherlands stopped giving out the shot on Sunday, joining Denmark, Norway and Bulgaria.

But the World Health Organization, Europe's medicines watchdog, AstraZeneca and experts have stressed the jab is safe and there is no evidence linking it to the clots.

An AstraZeneca spokesman said it had found no evidence of increased risk of blood clot conditions after analyzing reported cases from more than 17 million doses.

Agencies via Xinhua