The government’s Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunization said this week that people 18 to 29 years of age who are not at high risk for Covid should have the option of taking an alternative shot to the AstraZeneca vaccine like the one in their area. is available. It follows the accumulation of evidence linking the shot to rare blood clots, although no definitive cause has yet been established. The move has raised fears of a loss of confidence in the widely used AstraZeneca vaccine at a time when the UK is emerging from lockdown.
The Observer’s scientific editor, Robin McKie tells Anushka asthana That the risks of blood clots are still incredibly low: According to current data, the risk is about one in every 250,000 injections. But given that there are other vaccines on offer, he says this warning makes sense.
More than 30 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a vaccine, and a study by researchers at Imperial College suggests breaking the link between Covid-19 and deaths. But other studies point to a more serious third wave of the virus if vaccination coverage were to fall.
Photo: Matthias Schräder / AP
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