Greece mulling age limitations for AstraZeneca vaccine
Greece’s National Committee of Vaccinations is considering whether to restrict the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to a specific age group, because of the risk of a rare blood clot syndrome, a Health Ministry official said on Thursday.
“The National Vaccination Committee will most likely give its opinion on the AstraZeneca vaccine today or tomorrow at the latest,” said Marios Themistokleous, Health Ministry secretary general for Primary Health Care.
“We do not expect major changes in our vaccination schedule and there is no question in any European country of stopping vaccinations with this vaccine,” adding however that “what is being discussed is age restrictions.”
He went on to say that despite the upheaval, the rate of the public’s participation in vaccinations exceeds 90 percent and that there are 10,000-12,000 vaccinations with AstraZeneca on a daily basis.
The move follows an announcement by Europe’s drug regulator on Wednesday that it had found a possible link between AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the shot, while adding that the incidents are rare.
