Countries to halt AstraZeneca vaccine for aged 60 – EMA

Countries should avoid giving the Astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people over 60, the head of the EU drug regulator’s COVID-19 task force said, amid fears over rare blood clotting and as more vaccines become available.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) considers the Astrazeneca shot safe for all age groups.

European Union member states have stopped administering it to people below a certain age, usually ranging from 50 to 65, restricting its use to the older population, due to the rare cases of blood clotting, mainly among young people.

COVID-19 task force, chief Marco Cavaleri said, “In a pandemic context, our position was and is that the risk-benefit ratio remains favourable for all age groups.

“It would be better to use on them COVID-19 vaccine based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, such as Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

“Health authorities should avoid giving the Astrazeneca vaccine to people aged over 60,” Cavaleri said.

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Kamila/Reuters