Santiago de Chile (AFP)
AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, of which Chile received its first shipment on Friday, will only be administered to men, the country's government has announced.
In Europe, the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish laboratory has seen its use restricted in many countries due to very rare cases of thrombosis, mostly occurring in young patients.
Last week Chile's Institute of Public Health (ISP), which in January granted emergency authorization for the vaccine, recommended its use in women over 55 and men over 18.
But Deputy Health Secretary Paula Daza said on Friday that the vaccine "will only be given to men" from next week.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday that after a new study, the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine increased with age and continued to outweigh the risks.
And despite reports that cases of blood clots were more common in women, the EMA said there was "not enough data available across the EU" to say the risks are linked to the sex.
AstraZeneca technology uses an adenovirus as a vector, such as the American Johnson & Johnson, Russian Sputnik V and Chinese CanSino vaccines.
On Friday, experts from the American health authority recommended the resumption of vaccination with Johnson & Johnson's serum in the United States, suspended since April 13 after rare cases of thrombosis.
The shipment of 158,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived Friday is the first received by Chile under the Covax mechanism of the World Health Organization (WHO) which aims to guarantee equitable access to anti-Covid vaccines.
Chile is one of the fastest growing countries in its vaccination process.
Some 7.9 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose out of a total population of 19 million.
© 2021 AFP