Italy's prime minister got the AstraZeneca vaccine, as Europe struggles to convince people to take the shot

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

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• Italy's prime minister and his wife were given the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
• It came after Italy and other EU countries suspended it use over fears of possible side effects.
• The EU medicine regulator has clarified it was safe, and European leaders are backing the shot.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Italy's prime minister and his wife were vaccinated with AstraZeneca's jab on Tuesday after politics across the region led some Europeans to reject the shot.

Mario Draghi and his wife, Maria Serenella Cappello, were given the shot in line with the country's vaccination rollout as they are both aged 73, Italy's La Repubblica newspaper reported.

Their vaccination comes after Italy was one of the European countries to temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca shot earlier this month over possible side effects.

Other countries like Germany, France, and Denmark temporarily stopped using the vaccine after investigations into blood clots as a potential side effects were opened, but inoculations resumed after the European medicines regulator looked at the vaccine again and said it was "safe and effective."

The European Medicines Agency said that the vaccine is not linked to an "overall risk" of blood clots.

The director general of Italy's medicines authority, AIFA, had called the decision to suspend the vaccine's use "political" and said that the vaccine was safe.

But the temporary suspension and blood-clot investigations led to some Europeans turning down the AstraZeneca vaccine.

European leaders are now trying to repair that damage and express their confidence in the shot.

Draghi announced that he would be getting the AstraZeneca shot at a press conference on March 19, according to La Repubblica.

Italy has been one of the countries worst-hit by the virus, and was the first European country to be devastated by it.

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