Spain will administer a second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to those who received the first shot of AstraZeneca, the health ministry said
BARCELONA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2021) Spain will administer a second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to those who received the first shot of AstraZeneca, the health ministry said.
"The Public Health Commission agrees to giving the second dose of mRNA vaccines (Pfizer) to people aged under 60 years who received the first dose of AstraZeneca," the ministry said in a Tuesday statement.
The decision was made after the Carlos III Health Institute made public the preliminary results of a clinical trial that endorsed the combination of the two vaccines, by verifying an increase in antibodies and the immune response in those who were vaccinated only with the first dose of AstraZeneca.
About 2 million Spaniards under 60 years are awaiting their second shot after inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine were suspended for this category of people in April, when the European Medicines Agency linked the vaccination to "very rare" blood clot events.
"All people will thus receive their second dose in the coming days and the vaccination rate will continue to be fast-paced given the large number of vaccines that are arriving in our country these weeks," the health ministry said.
Some countries including Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, and Finland also chose to test mixing COVID-19 vaccines.
The Spanish authorities will also discuss the cases of those people who do not want to receive Pfizer's second shot, opting for AstraZeneca.
