France restricts AstraZeneca vaccine to under-65s
It is the latest recommendation from an EU member state approving the jab with such restrictions, citing insufficient data on its efficacy for older people
As there is still not enough data about the effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for patients over 65 years, the vaccine should only be given to people aged under 65.
The French health authority came up with the suggestion on Tuesday. It is the latest recommendation from an EU member state approving the jab with such restrictions, citing insufficient data on its efficacy for older people, reports BBC.
The EU drugs regulator has approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, but it is up to each member to set its own rollout policy.
Germany and Austria have already recommended it be limited to under-65s.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
There has been criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations in the EU and the campaign has been hit by delays to deliveries of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, among others.
The European Commission - the EU executive - was caught up in a row with AstraZeneca last week, after the company said it could not supply the expected doses on time.
The president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in particular, has been under fire for her own handling of the rollout, but she defended her stance on Tuesday. "I am convinced that the European strategy on vaccination is the right one," she told France's Le Monde.
What did French officials say?
The health regulator said there was still not enough data about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for patients over 65 years of age.
"These data will arrive in the coming weeks. In the meantime we recommend its use for people under 65 years old," it said. It recommended the vaccine for health workers and vulnerable people between the ages of 50 and 65.
More than 1.5 million people have received Covid vaccine so far in France. In the UK, which has a similar population, the figure is about nine million.
European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune told French radio on Monday that the British were "taking a lot of risks in this vaccination campaign" by spacing delays between two injections.
"Here scientists say we shouldn't do this," he added. UK health officials have defended the plan, despite criticism.
What have other EU countries decided about AstraZeneca?
Last week Germany's vaccine commission said it could not recommend the use of the jab in people aged over 65.
On Tuesday health authorities in Sweden and Poland made similar announcements.
Italy's medicines agency on Saturday approved the jab for all adults under 55.
Individual EU countries are free to decide who vaccines should be given to once they have been approved at EU level.
