Norwegian Committee Recommends Exclusion of AstraZeneca, J&J Vaccines From Immunisation Program

  By Dominic Chopping 
 

A committee appointed by the Norwegian government said Monday that the country should exclude the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines from its immunisation program.

The committee--which is made of a panel of doctors, professors and researchers from Norway, France and the U.K.--said the vaccines shouldn't be used due to risk of rare but serious side-effects.

However, it said they should be made available outside of the country's official vaccination programme to anyone who wants to take them on a voluntary basis.

"The government will now thoroughly review the report and use it as a basis for decisions together with the National Institute of Public Health's recommendation," Health Minister Bent Hoie said in a statement.

Last month, the National Institute of Public Health recommended that AstraZeneca's vaccine be removed from the immunisation programme completely, but the government wanted a further assessment and set up the expert panel to look into both vaccines in more detail before making a decision.

Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country has been paused since March 11, after reports of blood clots in people who had received the jab.

The institute said Monday that it recommended not using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for anything other than to build up an emergency stockpile, for use in the event of a failure in deliveries of other vaccines.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2021 07:07 ET (11:07 GMT)

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