Spain's health ministry said on Friday it would limit the use of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine to people under 55, after other European countries said they had similar restrictions.
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France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and other countries have set age limits for this vaccine, developed by the Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, due to the lack of risk assessment in older populations.
"
The public health commission, at a meeting on Friday and following scientific evidence, approved setting 55 as the maximum age for vaccination with AstraZeneca vaccine
," the health ministry said in a statement. communicated.
Last week, the German vaccine authority advised against the use of the vaccine for those over 65, arguing that there was "
not enough data
" on its effectiveness in this age group.
The move came hours after the European regulatory body gave the vaccine the green light for use in adults of all ages.
France followed suit on Tuesday and Austria, Belgium, Poland and Sweden took similar steps, while Switzerland called for "
further studies
".
Italy approved this vaccine but recommended using a different one for those over 55.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is only the third to be approved by the EU after those developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
However, its effectiveness is only 60%, against more than 90% for the others.
Spain has so far vaccinated nearly 1.7 million people and plans to have covered 70% of its population by the end of the summer, a target reaffirmed by the government on Wednesday despite shortages and delays in vaccine supply.
Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Wednesday Spain was "
open
" to using Russia's Sputnik V vaccine if approved by the EU.
