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* Policy shift will hold up vaccination campaign, says PM
* People with first shot should still get their second
* Italy, UK have suggested AstraZeneca shot age limits
(Adds quote from chief health officer, prime minister and adds
detail)
By Colin Packham and Jonathan Barrett
CANBERRA/SYDNEY, April 8 (Reuters) - Australia said on
Thursday it now recommends people under 50 should get Pfizer's
COVID-19 vaccine in preference to AstraZeneca's
shot, a policy shift that it warned would hold up its
inoculation campaign.
The move, a day after European regulators reiterated they
had found possible links between AstraZeneca's shot and reports
of very rare cases of blood clots, is a huge hurdle for
Australia's programme, which had relied on that vaccine.
Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, told
reporters the risk of clots was extremely low.
"It's only been found in the first dose of the AstraZeneca
vaccine, usually within 4 to 10 days after that vaccine. But it
is serious, and it can cause up to a 25% death rate when it
occurs," he said.
Australia would advise health providers to only give a first
dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to adults younger than 50 when
the benefit clearly outweighs the risks, he added.
Italy and Britain on Wednesday joined other countries in
suggesting age limits for AstraZeneca's vaccine. But the
European regulators reaffirmed the importance of that shot in
protecting people against COVID-19.
Those who have already had a first AstraZeneca dose without
any serious adverse events "can safely be given their second
dose," Kelly said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the updated advice will
delay Australia's inoculation timetable, but it was too soon to
say when Canberra would now vaccinate its adult population.
"There will be a recalibration of how the programme will
need to be adjusted," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
Australia has ordered 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine
and Morrison said Canberra was in talks to increase the order.
Authorities will continue to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to
people over 70. Those over 50 who opt for the Pfizer vaccine
will have to wait, the government said.
Australia - which had planned to use the AstraZeneca vaccine
for the vast majority of its near 26 million population -
expected to give all adults at least one shot by October.
But its immunisation campaign was already heavily behind
schedule.
It had pledged to administer at least 4 million first doses
by the end of March, but could only deliver 670,000, with the
government blaming the delay on supply issues in Europe.
It had been looking to ramp up the immunisation effort,
underpinned by plans to make 50 million doses of AstraZeneca
vaccine in Australia, produced by CSL Ltd.
Australia began vaccinations much later than some other
nations because of its few infections, which stand at just under
29,400, with 909 deaths, since the pandemic began.
(Global vaccination tracker: https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/)
(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/)
(Reporting by Colin Packham and Jonathan Barrett; Editing by
Michael Perry, Clarence Fernandez and Andrew Heavens)
