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Australia halts AstraZeneca vaccine for most people under 50

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Christophe Ena/AP
FILE - In this Monday, March 15, 2021 file photo a vial of AstraZeneca vaccine is pictured in a pharmacy in Boulogne Billancourt, outside Paris. At least a dozen countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have now temporarily suspended their use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after reports last week that some people in Denmark and Norway who got a dose developed blood clots, even though there's no evidence that the shot was responsible. The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization say the data available don't suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized. Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
Posted at 5:40 AM, Apr 08, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-08 08:40:41-04

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia has become the latest country to restrict use of the AstraZeneca vaccine by recommending that it not be given to people under age 50.

The announcement came after drug regulators held a series of urgent meetings earlier in the day.

The recommendation came after the European Medicines Agency said it had found a “possible link” between the shot and the rare blood clots, though regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union emphasized that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he’d received a series of recommendations and chief among them was that the Pfizer vaccine should now be adopted as the preferred vaccine for people aged under 50.

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