Following France, Belgium also... "No AstraZeneca vaccine for those aged 65 and over"

by Lee Kimin

Published 03 Feb.2021 20:12(KST)

Updated 03 Feb.2021 21:59(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Local media reported that the Belgian government will not vaccinate people aged 65 and over with the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford for the time being.

According to the Brussels Times on the 3rd (local time), Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgium's Minister of Health, announced this the day before.

Minister Vandenbroucke told local media VRT News, "The Health Committee clearly stated that the AstraZeneca vaccine is a very good vaccine for people between 18 and 55 years old," but added that they do not have sufficient data to be confident that it is also good for the elderly.

However, Minister Vandenbroucke said this is a temporary recommendation and additional information may be obtained within a few weeks.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended conditional marketing authorization within the EU for the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and over on the 29th of last month.

However, Germany, France, and other countries have recommended vaccination only for those under 65 years old, citing insufficient data on the vaccine's effectiveness in the elderly.

Earlier, the Standing Committee on Vaccination under Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the equivalent of the disease control agency, recommended that the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine be administered only to those aged 18 to 64, stating that sufficient clinical trials had not been conducted for those aged 65 and over.

France and Sweden also decided to recommend vaccination for those under 65, while the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) initially recommended prioritizing adults aged 18 to 54 last month but recently issued a revised opinion stating that even those aged 55 and over who are healthy can receive this vaccine.