Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia said they will resume administering AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine on Friday after the EU's drug regulator deemed the jab safe and effective. "We are resuming vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine tomorrow morning," Lithuanian Health Minister Arunas Dulkys told reporters on Thursday. Dulkys said he will join Lithuania's president, prime minister and parliamentary speaker to receive AstraZeneca jabs on Monday to persuade the public to get the shot. Latvian Health Minister Daniels Pavluts said his nation will restart the vaccinations as soon as Friday. The eurozone members with a combined population of nearly five million people were among more than a dozen countries to suspend the AstraZeneca shots over blood clot fears. The European Medicines Agency said on Thursday that the benefits of using the vaccine outweighed the risks, adding that "it is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots". A number of other EU members including France, Germany and Italy have also announced that they will restart vaccinating with the AstraZeneca jab. vab-il/amj/har