Under-30s are to be offered an alternative Covid jab to the AstraZeneca vaccine due to mounting evidence linking it to rare blood clots, the UK’s vaccine advisory body says.

A review by the drugs regulator MHRA found that, by the end of March 2020, 79 people in the UK suffered rare blood clots after vaccination – 19 of whom died.

The regulator said this was not proof the jab had caused the clots. But it said the link was getting firmer. The regulator said the side-effects were extremely rare and the vaccine’s effectiveness was proven. It said it meant the benefits of taking the vaccine were still very favourable for the vast majority, but they conceded it was more finely balanced for younger people because the risk from Covid was so much lower.