Spain has refused to use the coronavirus vaccine produced by the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on elderly patients. Only Spaniards under 55 will receive it, according to The Local.
The country’s Ministry of Health thus agreed with the recommendations of doctors from other European countries: they believe that there is not enough data on its effectiveness and safety in older patients.
Although the EU regulator has approved the vaccine for use at any age, the German Ministry of Health has set the maximum age for receiving it at 65, and France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden at 55, just like Spain.
According to the plans of the Spanish Ministry of Health, more than 70 percent of the country’s population should be vaccinated by the end of the summer. Just over 2 million of the 46 million population have been vaccinated so far.
In South Africa, the problem with the AstraZeneca vaccine turned out to be even more acute: scientists doubted that it was effective against a common strain of the virus, and suspended vaccination for the duration of additional research.