The Globe and Mail Sudip Kar-Gupta and Benoit Van Overstraeten PARIS Bookmark Please log in to listen to this story. Also available in French and Mandarin. Log In Create Free Account
Getting audio file . This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy. Full Disclaimer
ERIC GAILLARD/Reuters
France’s top health advisory body in charge of COVID-19 vaccines recommended on Friday that recipients of a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot who are under 55 should receive a second dose with a so-called messenger RNA vaccine.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the Haute Autorite de la Sante (HAS) had opted for the dose-mixing recommendation, which has not yet been evaluated in trials.
People below 55 who received their first AstraZeneca dose of the COVID-19 vaccine will receive a different vaccine for their second, the French national health authority said Friday (9 April), despite the fact that there is no EMA guidance on the issue.
According to the country’s health authority, this affects around 533,000 people in France – including healthcare professionals – who have received the jab since the start of February. The authority suspended the administration of the vaccine for under-55s on 19 March.
French Health Minister Olivier Véran, soon to be 41, will also be among those to receive a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine after having first taken a dose from AstraZeneca on 8 February.
France advises under-55s who got AstraZeneca vaccine to get different second shot WHO insists no data to recommend ‘mix-and-match’ approach to Covid-19 vaccines
Fri, Apr 9, 2021, 10:30 Updated: Fri, Apr 9, 2021, 18:13
The European Medicines Agency concluded that there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots in the brain in people who have received the vaccine. Photograph: Getty Images
France’s top health advisory body in charge of Covid-19 vaccines recommended on Friday that recipients of a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot who are under 55 should receive a second dose with a so-called messenger RNA vaccine.
Reuters reported on Thursday that the Haute Autorite de la Sante (HAS) had opted for the dose-mixing recommendation, which has not yet been evaluated in trials.
NEW YORK â Drug giant Pfizer and its partner in developing the first COVID-19 vaccine that received emergency authorization in the U.S. want to allow more adolescents to receive the vaccine.
New York-based Pfizer and BioNTech SE of Germany have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use authorization for their vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 through 15. Back in mid-December, the two-dose shot received emergency clearance for vaccinating people ages 16 and up.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they are working closely with the FDA and regulators in other countries to get emergency or conditional authorization as quickly as possible for kids ages 12 through 15.
The Latest: Private doctors in Mexico protest for priority sfchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.