Covid-19: UK to offer Oxford/AstraZeneca alternative to under-30s

The UK's medicine regulator recommended not using the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on those under the age of 30 due to the "possible link" " between the vaccine and rare clotting.

The UK’s medicines regulator on Wednesday said that under-30s in the country will be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine due to “evolving evidence” linking it to rare blood clots, even as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded a "possible link" between the vaccine and rare clotting. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said that routine monitoring has concluded that there is a "strong possibility" that the AstraZeneca vaccine has caused blood clots in an extremely small number of cases. Its review had found that by the end of March, 79 people in the UK had suffered rare blood clots after the jabs 19 of whom died. The MHRA stressed that this was not proof the jab had caused the clots and maintains that the benefits of the vaccine to protect against Covid-19 continue to outweigh the risks.