The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, has announced that the Public Health Commission will decide this Friday whether to finally administer the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca to people under 60 years of age who have already received the first dose.
In a press conference this Wednesday after the meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS), the minister pointed out that the Ministry's experts are currently "reviewing the scientific evidence".
"Countries such as France or Germany are already putting a second dose of mRNA vaccines, while Ireland has extended the interval to 16 weeks for better decision-making. The EMA has allowed each country to make this decision. In our case, the decision will be on Friday," Darias pointed out.
Likewise, the minister recalled that a clinical trial has been initiated, whose vaccination of volunteers will end this Thursday, to study whether to apply Pfizer to these people under 60 years of age who received a dose of AstraZeneca. However, its "first evidence" is expected "in mid-May", she specified.
Thus, Darias believes that "it might be worth waiting" for the clinical trial to make a decision on what to do with this group, but she has shown her "respect" for the decisions made by the Public Health Commission. And the deadlines are also urgent, due to the time that can pass between one dose and the next. "It is a complex decision, the position of the countries indicates that there is an open debate in Europe. The EMA has given an opinion, it has not closed the discussion. The EMA says that there is no scientific evidence. That is exactly what we are trying to do. Have more information to make the best decision from maximum security. It is a difficult and complex decision, even the experts have their opinions. I think we have to wait," she argued.
In any case, the minister sent a "message of tranquility" to this group: "The first dose has an efficacy of 76 percent against the virus. It is possible to wait a while as other countries such as Ireland have done. We have to guarantee that the decision we make is the correct one."
