Jun 09, 2021

Czech Health Ministry Recommends AstraZeneca, J&J Jabs Only for Over-60s

Prague Morning

The Czech health ministry recommended on Wednesday that only people over 60 years old should receive COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson&Johnson due to a potential risk of blood clots.

Scientists and U.S. and European drug regulators have been searching for an explanation for what is causing rare but potentially deadly clots accompanied by low blood platelet counts, which have led some countries to halt or limit the use of the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines.

The Czech health ministry said it made the decision after responding to recommendations from the country’s drug regulator SUKL and the Czech Vaccination Society.

U.S., EU, and other regulators have said the benefits of receiving the AstraZeneca or J&J shots outweigh any risks.

Vaccinations in the Czech Republic have accelerated in recent weeks with Pfizer’s two-dose jab making up the majority of supply in the central European nation.

The number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered has exceeded six million, according to data released by the health ministry.

On Tuesday, 111,024 people were vaccinated, which was some 7,300 more than a week ago. So far, medical professionals administered more than 110,000 vaccine doses a day five times.

In total, 6,099,710 doses have been administered, while two doses are mostly needed to complete the inoculation.