AstraZeneca vaccine developments change Australia’s vaccination schedule

Following the recommendation that people under the age of 50 get the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19 instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the Australia abandoned its goal of vaccinating almost all of its 26 million inhabitants by the end of 2021.

Australia, which relied heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine to vaccinate its population, has no plans to set new targets for completing its vaccination program, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a Facebook post yesterday, Sunday. afternoon.

“While we would like these installments to be completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such goals given the many uncertainties that exist“, Said Morrison.

Authorities in Canberra changed their recommendation for Pfizer vaccine doses for people under the age of 50 on Thursday after the European regulatory authority (European Medicines Agency – EMA) reiterated the possibility that AstraZeneca vaccine with reports of rare cases of blood clots, as explained by AMPE.

Australia, which rushed to double its Pfizer vaccine order last week, originally planned to vaccinate its entire population by the end of October.

Australia ‘s nuclear reaction against him coronavirus largely stopped its transmission to the community, but the promotion of vaccinations became a hot political issue, but also a source of political friction between Morrison and state and regional leaders, as the country vaccinated only a fraction of the target of four million people , which he had set by the end of March.

About 1.16 million doses of the vaccine COVID-19 have so far been available, Morrison added, noting that the pace of development of the vaccination program in Australia is in line with that of other countries, such as Germany and France, while ahead of Canada and Japan.

Australia started vaccinations much later than other countries, in part because of its low number of infections, which are below 29,400 to 909 deaths since the pandemic began.

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