CNCAV: Age restriction for AstraZeneca vaccine removed

The National Committee Coordinating the COVID-19 Vaccination Activities (CNCAV) announced on Monday that it was decided to remove the age limit for the administration of the vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca company. "Following the recommendations of the Scientific and Medical Group within the National Committee Coordinating the COVID-19 Vaccination Activities, the Health Ministry and the National Medicine and Medical Devices Agency of Romania (ANMDMR), it was decided to remove the age limit for administering the vaccine produced by the AstraZeneca company," CNCAV points out in a press release. According to CNCAV, the measures comes following new scientific data, "the experience and decisions" of other European states, as well as the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection, in the sense of which the AstraZeneca vaccine can be administered to adults over the age of 18, according to the summary of the product characteristics. "The vaccine determines the body's immune system to produce antibodies and specialised white blood cells that act against the virus, providing protection against COVID-19. For immunisation, two doses of the vaccine are given, with an interval of 4-12 weeks since the first dose," says the same source. CNCAV brings to mind that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended, on January 29, 2021, granting a conditional marketing authorisation for the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca. The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the EMA assessed the data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine and recommended that the European Commission granted conditional marketing authorisations. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the third vaccine against COVID-19 available for vaccination campaigns in the member states of the European Union and, implicitly, in Romania. AGERPRES (RO - author: Roberto Stan, editor: Florin Marin; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)