Italian medicines agency AIFA has
approved giving people people a mix of different COVID-19
vaccines after the government decided to stop using the
AstraZeneca jab with under-60s.
This means that people younger than 60 who have had their first
jab with AstraZeneca are set to get the Pfizer or Moderna
vaccine for their second dose.
Italy has stopped giving the AstraZeneca jab to under-60s, after
links to bloods clots in younger people and the death of a
18-year-old woman after she had it.
The Italian authorities had already recommended AstraZeneca be
only given to over-60s, but this was not an outright ban and
many regions had been giving it to younger people on a voluntary
basis.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), however, has reiterated
that it has approved the AstraZeneca jab for all adults, saying
the benefits outweight the risks.
Italy's COVID commissioner Francesco Figliuolo said the
government was "re-planning" vaccinations with the regions and
stressed "we have balanced with 11 regions to mitigate the
disruption to citizens".
Campania Governor Vinvcenzo De Luca banned AZ and Jonson &
Jonson for the over-60s while Friuli Governor Massimiliano
Fedriga said regulatory bodies were "confused" over the AZ jab.
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