WHO approves emergency use of AZ vaccine... Use of the elderly is different

<Anchor>

WHO, the World Health Organization, has approved urgent use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Although the WHO recommended that adults get AstraZeneca vaccine, regardless of age, governments, including our own, have delayed vaccination for the elderly. 

This is reporter Ahn Sang-woo.

<Reporter> The

World Health Organization and WHO have approved emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University in the UK.

Accordingly, both SK Bioscience and the Serom Institute of India's AstraZeneca vaccine, which are commissioned and produced, have been approved for emergency use.

With this approval, it is expected that the distribution of the vaccine through COVAX Facility, an international project for joint purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine, will be made smoother.

AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be delivered to member countries in the first half of this year through COVAX.

[Governor Yeosus/WHO Secretary General: Today, WHO approved the urgent use of the AstraZeneca vaccine so

that the vaccine could be distributed worldwide through

COVAX

.]

Earlier, the WHO expert advisory group announced on the 10th. It says that the AstraZeneca vaccine is recommended to be used by adults over 18 years of age.

However, some European countries, such as Germany, France, and Sweden, have banned AstraZeneca vaccine from vaccinating elderly people because of insufficient clinical data.

The WHO's approval does not reflect additional clinical data on the elderly, so it is likely that the vaccination for the elderly aged 65 or older will be controversial for some time.