Tamar Gabunia, the Deputy Minister of Health, responded to the information provided by the European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization regarding AstraZeneca at a briefing held at the Ministry of Health after the meeting of the Immunization Expert Council and explained that the board of experts supported the vaccination with "AstraZeneca" in the age group above 55.
"The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization have released information about possible side effects of AstraZeneca. The Committee of Experts in both organizations reaffirmed that the benefits of AstraZeneca outweigh all the potential risks that may be detected in different categories of patients during vaccination.
However, they recognized the possible link between thrombotic complications and AstraZeneca. This is the rarest possibility. According to British figures, around 4 per million people, though it was still considered necessary to focus on the issue. Based on these data, several countries have decided to discontinue the use of AstraZeneca in certain age groups. Today, our board of experts discussed and recommended to continue vaccination with AstraZeneca in the age group over 55; there will be no further expansion for AstraZeneca in other age groups," Tamar Gabunia said.
