Source::Xinhuanet
LISBON,
The Portuguese government announced on Thursday that it will resume the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine next Monday, after a three-day break to check for possible adverse reactions from vaccinated people.
"The vaccination plan suffered a pause in the AstraZeneca vaccine and will be started again from Monday. We will resume the plan, speeding it up and catching up, "said the coordinator of the pandemic immunization task force, Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, at a press conference. The decision was made following the announcement by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that are classified the AstraZeneca vaccine as "safe and effective".
"The conclusions are very clear and confirm that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine are far greater than any risks that have been identified," Portuguese pharmacist Rui Ivo, representative of Infarmed (National Authority of Medicines and Health Products), told reporters.
Currently, there are four vaccines against COVID-19 approved by EMA: BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Janssen (from the Johnson & Johnson group). Janssen will only be on the market in the second quarter of 2021. Portugal registered 21 more deaths related to COVID-19 and 485 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours, totaling 16,743 fatal victims and 816,055 infected since the beginning of the pandemic.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
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