Sweden to Ignore WHO Guidance on AstraZeneca Vaccine for People Over 65

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden will stick to its recommendation to not give AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to people older than 65, ignoring guidance from the World Health Organization, state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said.

“If you only have that vaccine in a country, you should of course use it for people over 65,” Tegnell told reporters on Thursday. “In Sweden, we have the luxury that we have several vaccines, therefore we think it is reasonable right now that we do as we thought we would have to do: direct the vaccine to different groups.”

The Swedish Public Health Agency issued the recommendation last week, citing lack of data on the effectiveness of the vaccine in the older age group. It said it would revisit the decision “later in the spring.”

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