Across Europe, around a dozen countries have suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood clots occurring after vaccination. There’s no evidence the vaccine is the cause, and blood clots can have a variety of different causes, but investigations are ongoing, and so countries have paused the vaccine’s rollout as a precaution. They’re applying what’s known as the precautionary principle – or rather, as Anthony Cox argues, they’re misapplying it.

When used properly, a highly risk-averse strategy like this protects people from potential threats. But it requires stopping the potential threat to be less dangerous than letting it continue. With a COVID vaccine, that’s unlikely to be the case. Unlike the potential blood clot risk, the threat of COVID is known, and it is large. Pausing vaccine rollout, and delaying protection against the disease, is likely to pose a far greater risk.

Elsewhere, as we celebrate St Patrick’s day, we learn why so many US presidents have liked to claim Irish roots – and why this doesn’t necessarily affect their relationship with the UK.

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