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MILAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Italy has asked to verify whether
it was possible to extend the use of Astrazeneca's
COVID-19 vaccine to people over the age of 65, a spokesman for
the health minister said on Friday.
When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use by EU
regulators earlier this year, many EU countries including
France, Germany and Italy said it should not be given to the
elderly, citing a lack of sufficient data.
But France and others, which lag far behind Britain with
their vaccination campaigns, have also now moved to allow their
elderly citizens to receive AstraZeneca shots following a
Scottish study, which showed a markedly reduced risk of a
serious course of illness from COVID-19 across all age groups
following vaccination.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante, writing by Maria Pia Quaglia,
editing by Agnieszka Flak)
