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AMSTERDAM, April 8 (Reuters) - The Dutch government will
limit use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to people
above age 60 following rare cases of blood clots, Health
Minister Hugo de Jonge said on Thursday.
The decision came a day after Europe’s medicines regulator
said it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult
recipients of the shot, although the vaccine’s advantages still
outweighed its risks.
"People over the age of 60, born in 1960 or earlier, can
safely continue to receive an injection of AstraZeneca. People
under the age of 60 will receive a different vaccine," the
government said in statement.
The Netherlands, which has ordered 12 million AstraZeneca
doses, is among several countries to restrict the vaccine's use
in recent days following concerns about side effects.
But de Jonge stressed the greater risks for older adults
from COVID-19.
"The risk of health damage as a result of COVID-19 in people
over 60 is many times greater than the risk of the very rare
reported side effect of severe thrombosis with a low platelet
count," he said.
The vaccine, which AstraZeneca developed with Oxford
University and considered a frontrunner in the global vaccine,
has been plagued by safety concerns and supply problems.
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch
Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)
