Denmark became the first country in Europe to totally abandon the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, coming after the country and more than a dozen other European Union nations suspended its usage. Denmark’s health agency director, Soren Brostrom, said Denmark will not use the shot as part of its vaccination campaign—despite the World Health Organization (WHO) and EU’s European Medicines Agency (EMA) saying that the benefits of using the AstraZeneca jab outweigh the negatives amid reports of rare blood clots. “Overall, we must say that the results show that there is a real and serious side effect signal in the vaccine from AstraZeneca,” said Brostrom in a statement. “Based on an overall consideration, we have therefore chosen to continue the vaccination programme for all target groups without this vaccine.” Noting that it is has been a “difficult decision” to make, Brostrom said the “upcoming target groups for vaccination are less likely to become severely ill from …