AstraZeneca shots should be avoided for age over 60s - EMA official

AstraZeneca shots should be avoided for age over 60s - EMA official

On Sunday, the head of the European Medicines Agency’s Covid-19 taskforce reportedly stated that in addition to the younger demographic, countries should also avoid administering the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to adults aged over 60, citing concerns about rare blood clots and the growing availability of alternate vaccines.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has confirmed that the Astrazeneca injection is safe for people of all ages. However, because of rare incidences of blood clotting, predominantly among young people, some European Union member states had prohibited its use on those under a particular age limit, generally ranging from 50 to 65, confining its usage to the elderly population.

Marco Cavaleri, Chief of the COVID-19 task force for EMA, told an Italian newspaper La Stampa that health authorities should avoid injecting the AstraZeneca shots to people who are more than 60 years old.

Now, in view of the increased availability of mRNA vaccines, numerous nations, including France and Germany, are contemplating it.

In the event of a pandemic, priority was and is that the risk-benefit ratio remains favorable for all age groups, Cavaleri added. However, because the number of COVID-19 cases is decreasing and because the younger generation is less affected by the risk generated from COVID-19 pandemic, Cavaleri believes that messenger RNA (mRNA) technology-based COVID-19 vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines and Moderna would be more preferable using on them.

Recently, after a teenager died from a rare type of blood clotting after getting the AstraZeneca jab, the Italian authorities said on Friday that the vaccination will be restricted to individuals over 60.

In March, Italy, like several other European countries, temporarily suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations because of worries about uncommon blood clotting disorder.

The following month it resumed the suggestion, "ideally," for those over the age of 60, that the products be taken after the EMA concluded that their benefit overweight all hazards.

Source Credits: https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-ema/astrazeneca-shots-should-be-halted-for-over-60s-too-ema-official-idUSL2N2NV02S