UPDATE - AstraZeneca Vaccination To Resume - Spanish Health Ministry

BARCELONA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2021) The Spanish authorities decided this week to start inoculating people under 65 with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Carolina Darias told reporters.

Earlier, people aged 18 to 55 received the vaccine due to a lack of data on how the vaccine works on older people. The Vanguardia newspaper, citing sources, announced on Monday that AstraZeneca vaccinations would resume.

"We are resuming vaccinations with AstraZeneca this Wednesday and the age threshold now set at 55 will be extended to 65," Darias said.

She said much would depend on the availability of the vaccine.

A recent US study determined that the AstraZeneca vaccine was 79 percent effective in preventing infection while being 100 percent effective in severe or critical cases.

Last week, the European Medicines Agency said that it had found no link between the AstraZeneca vaccine administration and instances of blood clots forming in inoculated people. The research was carried out following a decision of a number of European countries, including Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland and Norway, to suspend the use of the vaccine after reports of a number of cases of blood clotting.