MADRID, May 19 (Reuters) - Spain will allow people under age
60 who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca Plc's
COVID-19 vaccine to receive their second inoculation either with
the AstraZeneca drug or with Pfizer Inc's vaccine,
Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Wednesday.
"It is an exception due to the extraordinary circumstances,"
Darias told a news conference.
Until now, those who had received their first dose of the
AstraZeneca vaccine were in limbo because the government
suspended that vaccine in March, for people under 60, due to
blood-clot concerns.
The new policy will affect about 1.5 million Spaniards who
have already received their first AstraZeneca dose.
A study by the government's Carlos III Health Institute
found that giving a dose of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and
BioNTech SE to people who already received a first
shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and effective.
Graphic: COVID-19 global vaccination tracker: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/
(Reporting by Belén Carreño in Madrid
Editing by Matthew Lewis)