BRUSSELS: AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine remains authorised for all populations, European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said.

The explanation came after Italian newspaper La Stampa earlier quoted Marco Cavaleri, head of the EMA's vaccine strategy, recommending a stop to administration of AstraZeneca's Covid shots in Europe to people aged over 60 and younger age groups, amid fears over very rare blood clotting.

"Misinformation is making the rounds today. This is the situation: Benefit/risk balance of AstraZeneca Covid19 vaccine is positive and it remains authorised for all populations," the European Medicines Agency said in a tweet. Marco Cavaleri was also quoted by the newspaper advising the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine preferentially for the over-60s.

The European Union has approved AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for all populations aged 18 and above. However, both viral vector-based jabs have been marred by various reports of rare blood clots. The Europeon has also authorised Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's mRNA based Covid-19 vaccines.

On June 11, Italy restricted the use of AstraZeneca doses to those aged 60 years and above, after a teenager who had received the shot died from a rare form of blood clotting. In March, the two-dose vaccine was briefly halted by many European countries, including Italy, over concerns about the rare blood clotting problems.

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