Estonia To Donate Surplus AstraZeneca Doses - Prime Minister

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th June, 2021) Estonia will donate excess doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX shot-sharing scheme and directly to countries that need them, the prime minister said Thursday.

"We have decided to donate 900,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus to countries outside the EU.

We have reserved more doses than the Estonian population needs," Kaja Kallas told reporters.

The Estonian health ministry estimates that slightly over 40% of the Baltic nation's population have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least once.

Estonia suspended the use of the UK-Swedish vaccine for people under 60 in April after the EU drug regulator admitted that it could have a causal link to rare blood clots in the brain. The agency argues that the vaccine is beneficial for all age groups, especially people over 60.