• European leaders eager to resume rollout after vaccine freeze,

PARIS — First, France abruptly halted AstraZeneca vaccinations. Now, the French prime minister wants to get one as soon as he can.

With the virus rebounding from Paris to Budapest and beyond, European governments that rushed to suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccines after reports of blood clots are realizing the far-reaching impact of the move. And they suddenly seem eager for any signal — or fig leaf — that allows them to resume the shots.

That could come as soon as Thursday, when the European Medicines Agency releases initial results of its investigations into whether the vaccine and the blood clots are connected. So far, the EMA and the World Health Organization have said there’s no evidence the vaccine is to blame. But experts worry the damage already has been done. The suspensions by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and others have fueled doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine, and vaccination efforts in general, as the world struggles to vanquish the pandemic.

“There are thousands of new cases in Germany, France, Italy, etc., every day. If you are halting vaccination during this ongoing pandemic, you know that people will die,” said Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton.

While stressing the importance of investigating potentially dangerous side effects, he said, “It’s totally possible to investigate the signals without stopping the vaccine rollout.”

Some countries are sticking to the AstraZeneca vaccines. India vowed Wednesday to continue vaccinations, hours before Brazil’s health minister celebrated the first doses of AstraZeneca bottled in the country.

New coronavirus cases grew 10% globally last week, driven by surges in Europe and the Americas, the WHO reported Wednesday.

“The disease is turning the corner in the wrong direction, and we need to get that under control,” said Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO emergencies chief. “We’re going to fall behind the virus again.”

The EMA says thousands of people across the EU develop blood clots every year for a variety of reasons and that there were no reports of increased clotting incidents in clinical studies of the AstraZeneca vaccine.