Italy's medicines agency said on Monday it had joined other European nations in blocking the use of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine over fears of a link to blood clots. The move comes just days after Italy's AIFA regulator banned the use of a single batch as a precaution, while insisting there was no established link to the alleged side-effects. "AIFA has decided to extend the ban on the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine throughout Italy as a precautionary and temporary measure pending European Medicines Agency (EMA) rulings," it said in a statement on Monday. Italy's move followed that of Germany and France, which earlier Monday said they would stop administering the jab. Over the weekend, Ireland and the Netherlands both suspended the vaccine, with a Dutch drugs watchdog saying there were potentially 10 cases of blood clots linked to the vaccine. In what health authorities said was a "precautionary measure", the northern Italian region of Piedmont suspended use of the vaccine on Sunday after the death of a teacher who had received it the day before. The World Health Organization and AstraZeneca have both said the vaccine is safe. ams/ar/spm