Italy is set to resume vaccinating people with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab on Friday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) pronounced it safe and effective after a review Thursday, saying there was no causal link with blood clots.
"The Italian government welcomes EMA's pronouncement on the AstraZeneca vaccine," Premier Mario Draghi said..
"The government's priority remains that of achieving the highest number of vaccinations in the shortest time possible".
The health ministry said vaccinations with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab would resume at 15:00 Friday. The director general of Italian drugs agency AIFA, Nicola Magrini, told a press conference Friday the jab had been re-authorised, that "the vaccine is safe without age limits or side effects" and that a link between the jab and rare blood clots or thrombosis had not been shown.
Speaking at the same press conference, health ministry prevention chief Gianni Rezza said putting the brake on the vaccine rollout would be very risky given the high rate of cases, and that after the pause in the AstraZeneca programme, vaccinations would now be doubled.
EMA has said it will continue to investigate very rare blood clots that have occurred after vaccination.
Higher Health Council (CSS) chief Franco Locatelli said there had been 25 clots out of more than 20 million vaccinations, and COVID was by far the greater danger.
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