Spain Scraps New AstraZeneca Vaccine Purchases - Sources

MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2021) Spain will no longer purchase the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, sources in the Spanish Health Ministry told Sputnik on Monday.

The UK-Swedish vaccine is currently being used to "complete the vaccination of residents over 60 years old." Nearly 80% of those aged 60-69 have received both shots, while 95.6% just one.

Initially, it was assumed that Spain would buy 31 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses, but due to its reported side effects it was decided to suspend its use, so only 10,3 million doses were delivered to the country, with 5 million people having received at least one shot.

The remaining doses will be donated to third countries through the vaccine-sharing COVAX mechanism.

Slightly over 23 million of Spain's 47 million population have been fully vaccinated.