Canberra, Australia — Australian Supreme Health Authority urges Australians to receive a second dose of AstraZeneca, despite vaccine deaths exceeding national COVID-19 deaths this year I will.

Two Australian women died from a rare blood clot caused by the vaccine. The only death toll for COVID-19 this year was an 80-year-old traveler who died in April after being infected abroad and diagnosed by hotel quarantine.

Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told state leaders Monday that health officials did not recommend that people follow the first dose of AstraZeneca with another vaccine. Globally, the safety and efficacy of switching vaccines between doses is still being tested.

He urged people not to cancel the second Astra Zenca jab, which was booked three months after the first dose, and said that the chance of developing a blood clot after the second dose was 1 in 1.5 million. ..

COVID-19 has killed 910 people in Australia, but vaccine repellent is increasing as mortality declines.

Australia raised the recommended age limit for AstraZeneca from 50 to 60 last week after a 52-year-old woman died of a blood clot. A 48-year-old woman died in April.

Pfizer is currently Australia’s only alternative to AstraZeneca, but Moderna will soon be registered. The government hopes that all Australian adults who want the vaccine will have the vaccine available by the end of the year.

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Pandemic Details:

— Hesitation that undermines India’s vaccination efforts, especially in rural areas where most people live

— Thousands of Japanese companies are providing vaccines to workers, driving the country’s slow expansion

— Follow the Associated Press pandemic coverage details at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine.

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What else is happening:

Manila, Philippines — The Philippine government has signed 40 million purchases of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine with the largest agreement this year after huge demand from wealthy countries has begun to ease.

Carlito Galvez Jr., who oversees the government’s vaccine purchases, said mass shipments funded by loans from the Asian Development Bank and other lenders will begin in August.

He asked towns and regions to prepare to receive a “very sensitive vaccine” like Pfizer. The Philippine Islands are blessed with a tropical climate, and many rural areas lack warehouses, delivery aircraft, and trucks to keep vaccines below freezing.

“We don’t want the vaccine to be wasted due to corruption or mishandling,” Galvez said.

The Philippines has signed contracts to purchase 113 million COVID-19 vaccines from five foreign pharmaceutical companies and will receive 44 million doses this year under a UN-sponsored COVAX program. So far, we have administered more than 8 million doses from our existing inventory.

The Pfizer vaccine significantly boosts the country’s vaccination campaign and “makes it possible to achieve our goal of achieving herd immunity by the end of the year,” Galves said.

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Wellington, New Zealand — Healthcare regulators in New Zealand have approved the Pfizer vaccine for use in children up to the age of 12 under the leadership of regulators in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

The Medsafe decision was welcomed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, but requires formal approval from the government and could be later this month.

The Pfizer vaccine was previously approved in New Zealand for people over the age of 16.

Ardern didn’t expect the plan to complete the US coronavirus vaccination deployment to change by the end of the year, but said about 265,000 additional children would be eligible under expanded coverage.

New Zealand plans to use only the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate a population of 5 million.