Italian Minister Advises To Use AstraZeneca Vaccine Among People Aged Over 60 - Official

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2021) Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza has decided to recommend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine among people aged over 60 years following consultations with experts, Franco Locatelli, the head of Italy's Superior Health Council, said on Wednesday.

Italy is the latest among a number of countries, along with South Korea, Belgium and the United Kingdom, that decided on Wednesday to limit the AstraZeneca vaccine's rollout to older population. The decisions came in light of the European Medicines Agency's long-awaited evaluation of the vaccine's safety, which concluded that that blood clots should be listed as a "very rare" side effect.

"In light of the conclusions by EMA and to protect the most at-risk groups, the minister has made a recommendation on the preferred use [of the AstraZeneca vaccine] among people aged over 60 years," Locatelli told reporters.

The official also noted that severe side effect cases following the inoculation, such as blood clots, were extremely rare and occurred mainly in women aged under 60 during the first two weeks after the vaccination.

Additionally, Locatelli said that Italian experts had carefully studied whether vaccination with AstraZeneca should be limited to a single dose and found no reason to advocate it.