The clarification came after Marco Cavaleri, head of the EMA’s vaccine strategy, was quoted as saying by an Italian newspaper that the vaccine shots should not be administered to people aged over 60 and younger age groups amid fears over very rare blood clotting.
(Source: IANS)
European Medical Agency has said that the Astrazeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine remains authorised for all populations.
In a tweet, the EMA informed that the ‘Benefit/Risk balance’ for the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine is positive and therefore can be administered to all populations.
“Misinformation is making the rounds today. This is the situation: Benefit/risk balance of AstraZeneca #Covid19 vaccine is positive and it remains authorised for all populations,” the EMA stated on Sunday.
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The clarification came after Marco Cavaleri, head of the EMA’s vaccine strategy, was quoted as saying by an Italian newspaper that the vaccine shots should not be administered to people aged over 60 and younger age groups amid fears over very rare blood clotting. He advised the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine for people over 60 years of age.
However, the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has also been marred by reports of rare blood clots. But inspite of this, the EU has approved AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for all populations aged 18 and above.
The organisation has also approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s mRNA based Covid-19 vaccines.
However, in the interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa Cavaleri has categorically stated that the AstraZeneca vaccine shots should not be used. “Yes, and it is an option that many countries, such as France and Germany, are considering in the light of the increased availability of mRNA vaccines,” he said.
“However, incidents were very rare after the first dose. It is true that there is less data on the second dose, but in the United Kingdom it (the vaccination programme) is going well,” he added.
Italy restricted the use of AstraZeneca doses to those aged 60 years and above on June `11 after a teenager who had received the shot died from a rare form of blood clotting. In March, many European countries had banned the two-dose vaccine over concerns about the rare blood clotting problems, however, some among them have resumed using it after it got the nod from the EMA in April.
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