Germany, France, Italy and at least 14 other countries plan to halt AstraZeneca COVID-19 injections following concerns of blood clot side effects; even though the World Health Organisation and a slew of scientists have said there is no established link between the vaccine and the clots.

As a consequence, Brent crude is now down 49 cents, or 0.7%, at $68.39, having dropped 0.5% on Monday, March 15.

U.S. crude was down 47 cents, or 0.7%, at $64.92 a barrel, after declining 0.3% in the previous session.

A slow pace of vaccinations in Europe--one of the hardest hit areas--may delay any economic recovery from the pandemic on a global scale.

Oil prices rebounded as countries began relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and demand soared.

Health authorities in Nigeria, which also received millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, say there has been no blood clot side effects since a nationwide rollout campaign kicked off in March.