ADRID: Spain's health minister has said the country will carry out the use of the AstraZeneca  Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday by extending it to adults under the age of 65. Previously it had only been used for people younger than 55.

Disclosing the results of a long-anticipated study, the British-Swedish drugmaker said its vaccine was 79 per cent effective overall at preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19, including in older people, and that none of the more than 30,000 volunteers in the US study were hospitalised or developed severe COVID-19.

Spain had earlier joined other European countries, such as France, Italy and Germany, in suspending the use of this vaccine, but while most countries began administering the AstraZeneca jab almost immediately after the EMA's announcement, the Spanish Health Ministry gave the public health commission until this Wednesday to decide whether to make any changes to its policy.

The taken  decision means that the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines will continue to be used for those aged 65 and over, while the AstraZeneca shot will be used for people aged between 18 and 65.

The public health commission has also decided to change Spain's vaccination policy by putting an end to the strategy of first administering vaccines to groups such as health workers, teachers, policemen or firemen. Vaccines will now be administered on the basis of age as the commission's experts consider this a key factor in determining the need for eventual hospitalization.

According to the latest available data published by the Health Ministry last Thursday, 5,993,363 vaccine doses had been administered in the country, and 1,886,813 people had received both doses.

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