Officials here said around 170,000 people in Portugal have received the Oxford jab.

The vaccination task force had earlier announced that up to 80,000 teachers and school workers would be vaccinated this coming weekend, but this has now been postponed due to the suspension of AstraZeneca.

The schedule for vaccinating high-risk groups in Portugal remains in place.

The Azores and Madeira will also suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19 following guidelines announced yesterday by Portugal’s Directorate General for Health, drugs watchdog Infarmed and the temporary suspension task force.

The suspension of the vaccine’s administration in Portugal came just one day after Infarmed and DGS declared that the AstraZeneca jab could continue to be administered. M

ore than a dozen countries have now suspended it as a "precaution", after reports of serious cases of blood clots in people who have been vaccinated with doses of the AstraZeneca drug.