People under the age of thirty might soon be advised not to take the AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN)/Oxford University Covid-19 vaccines, according to reports today.
UK regulators, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), are said to be considering the change in advice ‘very urgently’, said the stories.
A change in recommendation might happen as soon as today, Channel Four said in a report, with an outright ban on the under-thirties also said to be under consideration.
Concerns again are focused on the possibility that the vaccine might spark a rare form of blood clot with the young deen sd much more at risk than older recipients.
Up until 24 March, there had been 30 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and eight other thrombosis events with low platelets among 18.1mln Britons so far vaccinated with the Astra jab, said the MHRA. Of these, seven have proved fatal.
Marco Cavaleri, a senior official at the European Medicines Agency, also said in an interview Tuesday there seemed to be a 'certain link' between the vaccine and some people getting blood clots especially the young but the reasons for this were unclear.
MHRA’s chief executive Dr June Raine said no decision had been made on its advice over the Astra/Oxford vaccine.
“Our thorough and detailed review is ongoing into reports of very rare and specific types of blood clots with low platelets following the Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca,” she said.
“No decision has yet been made on any regulatory action.”
Government, doctors and scientists all say the risks are far outweighed by the lives saved, which has been estimated at 6,300 in the first two months of the vaccine roll-out programme.
No blood clot incidents have been reported with the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.
The government’s vaccination programme received a lift today as the Scotland-manufactured Valneva vaccine scored well in a phase I/II trial especially in the incidence of antibodies and cellular responses generated.