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Italy Stops Administering AstraZeneca Vaccine To Under 60s Over Blood Clot Fears 

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Italy said on Saturday that it would no longer administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to those aged under 60 over the vaccine’s blood clot side effects. 

All those who have been administered a first dose of the vaccine will receive a second dose of an mRNA jab – either Pfizer or Moderna.

Fears about side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine are not new, with the European Medicines Authority (EMA) having declared blood clots as a rare side effect of the vaccine. 

Despite the possibility, the EMA has insisted throughout that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh any potential negative side effects.  Malta is currently administering the vaccine to all those aged 18 and over following it being given the green light by the EMA.

Italy’s decision was taken following the death of an 18-year-old girl, who died as the result of a blood clot after receiving the vaccine. 

The Italian government’s Technical and Scientific Committee (CTS) said that given that the drop in the number of active cases had led to a reassessment of the risk-benefit assessment for younger age groups. 

Italy has so far fully-vaccinated almost 14 million people out of a total population of around 60 million.

What do you make of Italy’s decision?

READ NEXT: High Vaccination Rate Should Have Seen More Balanced Entertainment Sector Reopening, PN Says

Yannick joined Lovin Malta in March 2021 having started out in journalism in 2016. He is passionate about politics and the way our society is governed, and anything to do with numbers and graphs. He likes dogs more than he does people.

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