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France restricts AstraZeneca vaccine to under-65s

The French health regulator said there was still not enough data about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine for patients over 65 years of age.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

The French health authority has said AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine should only be given to people aged under 65, reports the BBC.

It is the latest recommendation from an EU member state approving the jab with such restrictions, citing insufficient data on its efficacy for older people.

The EU drugs regulator has approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults, but it is up to each member to set its own rollout policy.

Germany and Austria have already recommended it be limited to under-65s.

There has been criticism of the slow pace of vaccinations in the EU and the campaign has been hit by delays to deliveries of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, among others.

The European Commission - the EU executive - was caught up in a row with AstraZeneca last week, after the company said it could not supply the expected doses on time.

Read more of this report from the BBC.