In Lazio, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson to volunteers under 60: how the vaccination campaign is changing

AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are highly recommended for individuals over 60 years. But the administration below that threshold, established not by the EMA but by theAifa, the National Medicines Agency, as a precaution by virtue of the rare thromboembolic cases recorded in various countries of the world and connected to the vaccine only below that limit, is not formally prohibited. Rather. The point is that with the advancement of coverage of the over 60 groups and the arrival of supplies from those two producers, the risk is that we will end up with an overabundance of those vaccines and a scarcity of those in mRna (for now only Pfizer-Biontech and Moderna, from June perhaps also the German CureVac) which instead are suitable for those under sixty years old.

But which, numerically speaking, is part of extremely broader segments of the population for which those two products alone may not be enough, in the immediate next quarter.

For this some regions would be thinking of to be able to offer the AstraZeneca vaccine and single-dose (for now, there are studies on a possible recall in the coming months) developed by Janssen even to adults under 60 years of age. Obviously on a voluntary basis. And, this is not said but it appears evident, even in exchange for a reduction in waiting times, especially when the campaign – as Commissioner Francesco Paolo Figliuolo has repeatedly announced – will inevitably become more elastic, perhaps opening up to all those who want the vaccine with age limits but very wide.

“The AstraZeneca anti-Covid vaccine is suitable for all age groups and the recommendation for over 60s is linked to the very low number of cases with serious collateral events recorded below that age” explained Figliuolo during a recent visit in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The same reassurance also from the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza. Not recommended, in short, but possible. The road would therefore be the one followed by Germany: the administration of AstraZeneca will in fact “Liberalized” also in Berlin, after what was decided by the three laender of Mecklenburg, Saxony and Bavaria. Always proceeding by age, whoever wants it can have it even if he is under sixty years old. And the health authorities plan to open vaccination for all, out of age groups, since June. Maybe even earlier. At that point using all the vaccines available based on the availability and will of the people.

In Italy the Lazio will open from April 30 the bookings for the 58-59enni. They will therefore be at this audience dedicated all vaccines: AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson can be administered to anyone who wants it. Otherwise, but it is to be imagined with different times, it will be Pfizer or Moderna. Meanwhile, even in the United States the usually very demanding FDA, after a temporary stop linked to an in-depth study on rare cases of thrombosis, has given a new green light to the single-dose vaccine for everyone, with no recommendations for age. «The European agency Ema has not placed restrictions. Aifa – he said Giorgio Palù, who is president – has suggested for both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines a preferential use for the over 60 age group but did not intend to ban it under that age ».

It was not difficult to imagine a similar fate for the AstraZeneca vaccine. In many, since the block of administrations in March, also given the loss of confidence towards that product, they had envisioned a wider and largely voluntary use. That is, a recommendation for groups in which those rare cases of thrombosis had not occurred and a substantial liberalization, even beyond the progression of the registry, for anyone wishing to receive the doses. Also there Campania he would be thinking of following the Lazio road.