UK to offer under-40s alternative to AstraZeneca shot

Christophe Ena/AP

FILE - In this Monday, March 15, 2021 file photo a vial of AstraZeneca vaccine is pictured in a pharmacy in Boulogne Billancourt, outside Paris. At least a dozen countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have now temporarily suspended their use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after reports last week that some people in Denmark and Norway who got a dose developed blood clots, even though there's no evidence that the shot was responsible. The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization say the data available don't suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized. Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

By: The Associated Press

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LONDON (AP) — People under 40 in Britain will not be given the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine if another shot is available because of a link to extremely rare blood clots.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said people under 40 without underlying health conditions should receive an alternative vaccine if its does not cause substantial delays in being vaccinated.

The government says the change will not affect its goal of giving all U.K. adults at least one vaccine dose by July.

Several countries in Europe have chosen only to use the AstraZeneca vaccine on older people because of a link to a type of very rare blood clot.

Two-thirds of U.K. adults have received at least one shot of vaccine and most have been AstraZeneca.

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UK to offer under-40s alternative to AstraZeneca shot

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