GMB's Dr Hilary Jones has confirmed there is "no causal link" between the Oxford coronavirus vaccine and blood clots.
Dr Hilary spoke out following the news that Ireland have temporarily paused the use of the Oxford jab as a "precautionary step", despite the UK's medicines regulator saying the available evidence "does not suggest the vaccine is the cause" of clots.
Dr Hilary spoke about the issue on the ITV show today and said: "Blood clots are very common, they happen all the time, they happen as a result of taking the oral contraceptive pill, they take place after trauma to the body, we see thousands of heart attacks and strokes every year because of blood clots, so there are going to be blood clots anyway, before vaccine was ever rolled out.
"We're looking at the levels of blood clots that are being reported, as a precautionary measure and actually all the data that we have so far is that the level of blood clots is lower than it would be before vaccination, so that in itself is reassuring.
"And that's across all the genders, it's across age groups, it's across batches of the vaccine and it's across the different countries.
"So it's highly reassuring that at the moment there is no evidence of any causal link between the vaccine and blood clots, but it's a very good thing we're looking it it."
AstraZeneca who produce the jab have insisted it is safe, saying a review of available data in more than 17 million people who have been vaccinated across the UK and EU has shown no evidence of an increased risk.
The number of cases of blood clots reported is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population, AstraZeneca's chief medical officer Ann Taylor said.
The pharmaceutical giant said its review had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.
Dr Taylor said: "Around 17 million people in the EU and UK have now received our vaccine, and the number of cases of blood clots reported in this group is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population.
"The nature of the pandemic has led to increased attention in individual cases and we are going beyond the standard practices for safety monitoring of licensed medicines in reporting vaccine events, to ensure public safety."
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Dr Phil Bryan, vaccines safety lead at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said people "should still go and get their Covid-19 vaccine when asked to do so."
Dr Bryan said: "We are aware of the action in Ireland.
"We are closely reviewing reports but given the large number of doses administered, and the frequency at which blood clots can occur naturally, the evidence available does not suggest the vaccine is the cause.
"People should still go and get their Covid-19 vaccine when asked to do so."
