Health rejects that people under the age of 60 can be vaccinated earlier if they choose AstraZeneca | Society

The Ministry of Health denied on Wednesday that those under the age of 60 can be vaccinated earlier if they voluntarily choose to do so with the drug AstraZeneca for those under the age of 60. At least for now, this option is excluded. Sixth update of Covid-19 vaccination strategy in Spain, published on Wednesday morning, explicitly rejects it for the first time, at the request of various communities, such as Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid.

The document approved on Tuesday by the Public Health Commission, which consists of technicians from the Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities, is blunt: “It must be remembered once again that the choice of vaccine can not be determined by individual choices but rather which should be based on efficacy and indications for different population groups. It also does not seem appropriate at this time to offer the Vaxzevria vaccine [AstraZeneca] persons under 60 who voluntarily wish to be vaccinated. The proposal can not only contradict the ethical principles on which the strategy itself is based, but also, if there is not yet enough information available to make the most appropriate decision, the value of informed consent as a guarantee of an autonomous decision is highly questionable.

This was a possibility that was raised by some regional governments following the commission’s decision to restrict the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 60, once it was found that very rare adverse events of venous thrombi occurred mainly in people with from this era.

The document adds: “In a context of limited resources and where priority must be given, vaccination cannot be determined by individual choices.” The text states that the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine “under the informed consent at this” can convey “acceptance in the strategy that different vaccines are the choice of individuals. This would, in the current context, run counter to the ethical principles on which the strategy is based. “

It also denies for the time being the possibility of extending the period between the first and second doses in messenger RNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) and states that the first available doses of Janssen (single-injection medicine) will go to people aged 70 to 79 years. years, as announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Health.

In this way, the vaccination plan looks like this: messenger RNA vaccines are intended for people over the age of 70 and groups with diseases that make them more vulnerable to severe covid suffering or death. Janssen’s, which has just been distributed among the autonomous communities, will in principle apply to septuagenarians. Those between 60 and 69 years old will receive those from AstraZeneca, until other vaccines are available to them.

The document does not specify what will happen to people under the age of 60 who have already received a first dose of AstraZeneca. For them, vaccination is suspended in the absence of a study that the Carlos III Institute of Health has just begun to determine whether it is safe and effective for the second injection to be from Pfizer, which some countries are already doing, such as Germany. In any case, the second dose was scheduled to be given from the twelfth week, and the first doses of AstraZeneca were distributed on February 8, so the deadline for the first people to receive it is not met until the beginning of the month. May.