UK Advises Under-40s Get Alternative To AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine – MENAFN.COM

UK Advises Under-40s Get Alternative To AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine – MENAFN.COM

(MENAFN - Kashmir Observer) London: The scientific body overseeing Britain's coronavirus vaccination programme on Friday recommended that under-40s are offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid jab. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said it was taking the "precautionary approach" for adults aged 30-39, after assessment of blood clot risks. Professor Wei Shen Lim of the JCVI advisory committee said that those aged 30-39 will be "preferentially offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine". This will happen as long as an alternative is available and does not create a substantial delay in vaccination, and as long as the UK keeps the virus situation under control, he added. Lim said the aim was to "further increase vaccine confidence" as under-40s are due to be vaccinated soon, by showing that the government is putting a "high priority on safety". The UK — which launched a mass vaccination drive in December last year with the Pfizer-BioNTech shot — is still on track to give all adults a first vaccine dose by the end of July, Lim said. Thank you for connecting with us. We will respond to you shortly. He added that the success of the vaccine rollout means that "a