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(Updates with Brazil not changing AstraZeneca vaccine usage)
MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Reuters) - Mexican and Brazilian
health regulators said on Wednesday they would not limit the use
of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot after Britain's vaccine
advisory committee recommended not using it for people under 30,
citing rare blood clot risks.
Mexico's drug regulator, Cofepris, said in a statement that
it was investigating the information raised by Britain's Joint
Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and awaiting
further input from Mexico's counterpart.
"At this time, Cofepris does not plan to limit the use of
AstraZeneca vaccines to any age or group," the statement said.
Brazil's health regulator, Anvisa, recommended continued
use of the vaccines, saying that the benefits outweigh the
risks.
Anvisa said Brazil had administered more than 4 million
shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine and had registered 47 adverse
clotting events. The agency said it was impossible to establish
whether the clotting was linked to the vaccine, nor could
specific risk factors be identified.
Brazil ranks only behind the United States in total COVID-19
cases and deaths. Mexico has the fourth-highest death toll.
The JCVI said it was preferable for adults under 30 with no
underlying conditions to be offered an alternative to the
AstraZeneca vaccine where available, due to reports of the rare
side effect of blood clots in the brain.
Mexico has so far acquired 3.5 million doses of the
AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University
researchers, according to government data.
Some of that came through a loan deal with the United
States, where the AstraZeneca shot is not yet authorized, and
from an agreement with the Serum Institute of India, which
produces the vaccine.
Mexico and Argentina also have a deal with AstraZeneca to
produce its vaccine for distribution in Latin America, with
financial support from the foundation of Mexican billionaire
Carlos Slim.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City and Jake Spring
in Brasilia; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney)
