Italy limits AstraZeneca vaccine to over-60s
Italy said Saturday it would restrict the AstraZeneca vaccine to the over-60s, with younger people who have already received one dose to complete the cycle with an mRNA jab. The change follows an improvement in coronavirus infection rates in Italy, which has been devastated by the pandemic but will next week lift restrictions in much of the country following a sharp decline in cases. The EU's medicine agency in April drew a link between rare blood clots and AstraZeneca jabs but stressed that the benefits of the vaccines outweighed the risks. Malta is currently administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to anyone aged 18 to 70, in line with recommendations made by the European Medicines Authority. The Italian government's Technical and Scientific Committee (CTS) said that "the changed epidemiological situation has led to a reassessment of the risk-benefit ratio for age groups less at risk of severe forms of COVID-19." A health ministry statement Saturday updating the CTS opinion on vaccines said that AstraZeneca's vaccine should now be given "only to people aged 60 or over". Out of a principle of "maximum caution", for the under-60s who have already received the first dose of...