The AstraZeneca vaccine will not only be administered again this coming Wednesday, but its use will be extended to age 65, as estimated by the Public Health Commission and La Vanguardia has advanced.
This Monday the Autonomous Communities meeting in the Interterritorial Council must approve the measure.
The AstraZeneca product had been suspended for a few days, after several cases of thrombosis were reported in people who had received the vaccine.
However, after an evaluation by the European Medicines Agency - which concluded that the immunization was safe and effective - the Ministry of Health decided to lift the suspension and resume administration as of next Wednesday.
To date, the vaccine was indicated in people under 55 years of age.
However, with the change proposed today, the age of candidates will be increased to 65.
Last Thursday, after the meeting of its Pharmacovigilance and Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) ratified the safety of the vaccine and gave the green light to the administration of the product, which had been suspended in several European countries -including Spain- due to the notification of cases of cerebral venous thrombosis in people who had received the vaccine.
"The vaccine is safe and effective in protecting against Covid-19, and its benefits continue to outweigh the possible risks," said Sabine Straus, director of the PRAC.
"The number of thrombotic events reported among the vaccinated population - he added - is lower than expected in the general population, as observed by the committee," so it has been concluded that "there is no increase in the overall risk of the appearance of thrombi. However, there are still some uncertainties; we have seen some very rare cases describing a combination of thrombosis, thrombocytopenia and bleeding, in some cases starting with small thrombi between 7 and 14 days after vaccination, a condition known as coagulation disseminated intravascular. Also a few cases of cerebral sinus thrombosis. These conditions are related to thrombocytopenia and there is still not enough scientific evidence to determine if these events are related to the vaccine, although they are very rare, the PRAC will continue to investigate it " , he asserted.
Following the EMA's decision, the Ministry of Health decided to lift the suspension of the vaccine and announced that next Wednesday the administration of the product will resume.
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The Health Minister ratified last Thursday the goal of vaccinating 70% of the population before the end of the summer.
"If the companies comply with the contracts, the commitment remains," he said.
The head of Health has pointed out that Janssen will begin to supply its single-dose vaccine in the second half of April.
In his speech on Thursday, Darias defended the paralysis of the campaign for a few days.
"It was a complicated decision, but the right one," said the minister.
"The vaccine was not suspended, what was done was to pause the vaccination until we had more data," said María Jesús Lamas, director of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS).
"I do not believe that this weakens confidence in vaccines," stressed the head of the AEMPS.
From his point of view, this episode shows that "the system works."
However, 52% of Spaniards now view AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as "unsafe", compared to 25% in February, according to a YouGov survey of more than 8,000 people in the UK , Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden, reports Europa Press.
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