Shares of AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) are under pressure again following an analyst downgrade. Concerns about the pharmaceutical company's coronavirus vaccine led Argus Research to lower its rating on the stock from buy to hold on Monday morning. Last Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as a very rare side effect of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, recently given the trade name Vaxzevria. The risk of death from COVID-19 is many orders of magnitude greater, but delays to Vaxzevria's European roll-out had already damaged public opinion regarding it. Across the EU and the U.K., around 34 million people have been vaccinated as of April 4, 2021. Over that period, 222 blood clots were reported to the EMA's side-effect hotline. The vast majority of those were non-fatal. Image source: Getty Images. Vaccine hesitancy in the EU and U.S. is already a problem, and the slightest hint of a dangerous side effect will make it more difficult, if not impossible, for AstraZeneca to earn significant profits from Vaxzevra. That said, since the company had already committed to selling the vaccine at cost during the pandemic, and on a permanent not-for-profit basis to low- and middle-income countries, AstraZeneca shareholders don't have much to worry about in terms of lost profits from Vaxzevra over the long run anyway. The roll-out of this particular COVID-19 vaccine has been a disappointment, but investors need to remember that AstraZeneca isn't a vaccine company. It's an oncology-focused drugmaker, and a highly successful one with rapidly rising profits. Unless cancer patients suddenly begin caring about who markets their therapies, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy isn't going to appreciably impact AstraZeneca's earnings. The company's product lineup sports a handful of recently approved treatments that could push the company's bottom line and its stock price steadily higher for years to come. 10 stocks we like better than AstraZeneca PLCWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and AstraZeneca PLC wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source