French PM gets AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as country restarts jabs for over 55s

Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Credit: THOMAS COEX /AFP

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French Prime Minister Jean Castex received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at a hospital near Paris on Friday, in an event that was broadcast live on French TV as part of efforts to restore public confidence in the vaccine.

Mr Castex, 55, received the controversial jab on the same day that France’s medical regulator Haute Autorite de Sante ruled the jab could resume after a suspension of several days, but said it should only be given to people aged 55 and older.

France’s health authority on Friday recommended that only people aged 55 and over should be given the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine due to reports of blood clots, despite the European Medicines Agency (EMA) saying the jab was "safe and effective".

Countries across Europe cancelled their vaccination rollout amid blood clot fears earlier this week, but the EMA paved the way on Thursday for the European Union to reboot its faltering rollout of the coronavirus vaccination. 

"This is a safe and effective vaccine. Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19, with the associated risks of death and hospitalisation, outweigh the possible risks," Emer Cooke, the EMA executive director, said.

France said its recommendation was based on the fact that the reports of blood clots that had prompted its suspension in France and other European countries had only been seen in those aged under 55.

Dominique Le Guludec, head of the French HAS health regulator, said such cases in those who had received the vaccine were "very rare" but also "serious."

She said that while waiting for additional information, those under 55 should get vaccinated with the three others approved in France: from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

How are different countries' vaccine rollouts progressing?

As of March 16, 25 such blood clot cases have been identified in Europe, resulting in nine deaths, among people under 55 years of age, "a majority of them women," Le Guludec added.

In France, out of 1.4 million AstraZeneca doses administered, cases were seen in a 51-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, she said.

Germany, Italy, Spain and 13 other EU countries were alongside France in suspending the use of the vaccine against the advice from the bloc’s medicines regulator. 

A list of countries, including Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and the German region of Rhineland-Palatinate have already lifted their restrictions, with some resuming their rollout on Friday. Others are expected to soon follow.

Prime Minister Jean Castex, himself aged 55, is due to be given the vaccine later Friday to boost confidence in the jab after the European medicine watchdog ruled it was safe to use.

Just 12 per cent of the European Union population has been vaccinated, while more than half of its stockpile of around 15 million AstraZeneca jabs remain unused.