LIVE: Boris Johnson holds press conference on AstraZeneca vaccine following safety concerns

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a press conference in London on Thursday, March 18, on the safety of AstraZeneca’s vaccine against coronavirus. Several countries have already paused the administration of AstraZeneca amid concerns over its side-effects. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to announce its ruling on the safety of the vaccine following a review of the cases. EMA chief Emer Cooke has said that they “are still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19 with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death outweigh the risk of these side effects.“