
Italy and Cyprus announced plans to resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday following a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency Thursday that the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks.
Italy’s medicines regulator, AIFA, considers that “the reasons behind the precautionary ban on the use of vaccine batches, issued on March 15, 2021, no longer exist,” according to the Italian Health Ministry press office.
On Friday “as soon as the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) releases its opinion, AIFA will proceed to revoke the ban on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, thus allowing a complete resumption of the vaccination campaign starting at 15.00,” the statement added.
In a government statement, Cyprus said, “Following today’s scientific conclusion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which clarifies that after a thorough investigation there is no link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the thrombo-embolic events reported by EU countries and that the vaccine is considered safe and effective, the Ministry of Health announces that from tomorrow, March 19, 2021, vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine will resume."










