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MADRID, March 24 (Reuters) - Spain restarted using
AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, with
little sign public enthusiasm has been dented by a week-long
suspension over potential side effects.
Along with a dozen other European countries, Spain stopped
using the shot early last week amid concerns of a rare
blood-clotting condition, but then revoked the suspension after
Europe's medicines agency backed the vaccine.
"We have to put prejudice and urban myths aside and move
forward," civil servant Jose Manuel Plaza said from his car
after getting the shot at a drive-through vaccination clinic in
the southern province of Huelva.
Some countries, including Germany, have reported a
reluctance among some people to have the AstraZeneca shot
following the suspension, creating a headache for authorities
dealing with a new wave of infections.
After falling to its lowest level since August, Spain's
infection rate as measured over the preceding 14 days has begun
to creep up, rising to 132 cases per 100,000 people on Wednesday
from 129 cases the day before.
While a far cry from January's peak of 900 cases per 100,000
people, the increase is causing concern ahead of the Easter
holidays.
The health ministry reported 7,026 cases on Thursday,
accelerating from the previous day's count of 5,516, and
bringing the tally to 3.24 million. The death toll rose by 320
to 74,064.
Under Spain's vaccination strategy, AstraZeneca shots are
given to key workers up to 65 years old, while vaccines from
Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are reserved for elderly and
clinically vulnerable people.
Authorities have administered nearly one million AstraZeneca
shots out of a total of 6.4 million.
Outside Atletico Madrid's Wanda football stadium, which has
been converted into a mass vaccination centre, people queued up
to receive their injection.
"I am happy to receive the vaccine. I think that you have to
be positive and there is nothing worse than COVID," said 30-year
old health worker Cristina Gonzalez.
(Reporting by Mariano Valladolid in Huelva and Sergio Perez in
Madrid. Additional reporting by Joan Faus. Writing by Nathan
Allen; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Mark Potter, William Maclean)
