There are five decisions the National Vaccination Headquarters made in connection with the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country, outgoing Health Minister Kostadin Angelov told a news conference on April 19.
1. The AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 will not be administered to women under the age of 60 who have an increased risk of thrombosis and/or a history of the blood disorder thromocytopenia.
2. Angelov said that the vaccination headquarters had decided that everyone who had received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and had not experienced serious side effects could receive a second dose of the same vaccine.
3. Those who received a first dose of AstraZeneca but do not want a second dose of that vaccine may receive a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, no earlier than 84 days after the first dose. Only then will the vaccine be considered completed.
4. Those who have Covid-19 after receiving a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose not earlier than six months after laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis.
5. Those who have had Covid-19 may undergo a full immunisation schedule with the AstraZeneca vaccine no earlier than three months after laboratory confirmation of the diagnosis.
There are no clinical studies on the effect of the combination of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
"We have to complete the process of immunization in some way. This is currently the option we have adopted. In the course of clinical trials, when they are completed, we can change the current decision, which we have made," said the Minister of Health.
At this stage, there is still no decision of the European Medicines Agency as regards the mixing of the two vaccines.
The headquarters recommended that people who did not have side effects after the first dose with AstraZeneca should take a second dose of the same vaccine.
"Only then can we be sure that their immunization cycle is complete in all phases," Angelov stressed.
The outgoing minister reminded that those who do not want a second dose will not receive a vaccination certificate.
He said that “green corridors” for Covid-19 vaccinations would open in early May.
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