African Union President and President of Congo Democratic Republic Felix Tshisekedi speaks during a joint news conference at the end of the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in Paris, France May 18, 2021.

Hospitals in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa are "overwhelmed" by a rise in COVID-19 infections, President Felix Tshisekedi said on Saturday, as the country was hit by a third wave of the disease.

"You know very well that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been and continues to be problematic, both in terms of side effects but also in terms of trust with the population," Tshisekedi said.

International drug regulators have said the benefits of using vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) outweigh risks as they investigate reports of extremely rare, but potentially fatal blood clots.