U.K. advises people under 40 to get alternative to AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot concerns
49 deaths in the U.K. linked to blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine
Officials administering Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination program are now recommending adults under 40-years-old take an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The news comes after a similar statement last month suggesting people under 30 avoid the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been linked to serious blood clots.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) recommends people aged 30 to 39 without underlying health conditions should receive an alternative vaccine, the government said Friday.
Wei Shen Lim, Chairperson of the JCVI, said alternatives would only be recommended if “no substantial delay to vaccination might arise.”
Britain’s medicines regulator had received 242 reports of blood clots in people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine, out of 28.5 million doses given.
There have been 49 deaths.