Administration of AstraZeneca vaccine to resume next week

After the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, Spanish health authorities announced administration of the inoculation would resume next week, the week beginning March 22.

The EMA announced on Thursday evening that the jab is "safe and effective" following an investigation into a possible causal relation between the AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots.

The decision to resume using the vaccine will be formalized during an inter-territorial meeting on Monday. 

Days earlier, Spain joined a string of other European countries and put AstraZeneca jabs on hold pending EMA findings on the matter, prompting Catalonia to sit on 127,000 vaccine doses.

In the meantime, there will be meetings held on Friday and Saturday to discuss the vaccine report and the public health commission will decide on which terms the doses will be administered again, in case it is necessary to establish some kind of age group or limitation of groups that may be more vulnerable to adverse effects.

The news comes as Catalan health officials, concerned that the decrease in Covid-19 cases has come to a halt – are worried that Easter weekend travel plans could provoke another spike in cases. They warn new outbreaks could lead to a fourth wave with up to 800 ICU patients.