A senior official from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) estimated in an interview published on Sunday that it would be better to stop AstraZeneca's vaccine against Covid-19 for all age groups when alternatives are available.
Marco Cavaleri, head of vaccine strategy at EMA, also told Italian newspaper La Stampa that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine should preferably be used for those over 60.
Read also Covid-19: how 100,000 people under the age of 55 received AstraZeneca despite the recommendations
Both of these viral vector vaccines have been approved by the European regulator for those over 18, but have been reported to have rare blood clots.
The EU has also authorized two messenger RNA vaccines, those from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
Italy on Saturday restricted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 60 and over, due to increased health risks for younger people.
Asked whether it would not be better to ban AstraZeneca, including for those over 60, Mr Cavaleri replied: 'Yes, and it is an option that many countries, like France and Germany, are considering in light of the increased availability of messenger RNA vaccines ”.
“However, incidents were very rare and happened after the first dose.
It is true that there is less data on the second dose, but in the UK it (the vaccination schedule) is going well.
"In young people, the risk of being ill is decreasing, and the message to them could be to use preferably messenger RNA vaccines, but the choice is left to each state," he added.
The Janssen poses "fewer problems"
He said Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine presented "fewer problems than AstraZeneca," but said it had been used less widely.
“With just one dose, it's useful for some hard-to-reach categories, but there's an adenovirus (vaccine) left, and it's best to keep it for those over 60,” he said.
Messenger RNA technology involves injecting our cells with strands of genetic instructions to make them make proteins or “antigens” specific to the coronavirus.
These proteins will be delivered to the immune system, which will then produce antibodies.
Viral vector vaccines, such as those from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, use another virus as a carrier, which is modified so that it carries genetic information in the body to fight Covid.
Both use a very common type of virus called adenovirus as a carrier.
