- Up to 80% of Sicilians reject the AstraZeneca sting, the region leader said.
- Italy uses the shot, but recommends that it be avoided in younger age groups.
- Fear, based on rare blood clots, is ‘understandable but unfair’, a health official said.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Up to 80% of people in Sicily refuse to vaccinate AstraZeneca when it is offered, the island’s leader said on Saturday.
Sicily’s president Nello Musumeci told a news conference on Saturday that ‘out of 100 people 80 say no’ to the AstraZeneca vaccine, AFP reported.
A Musumeci spokesman later told AFP that the figure was too extreme and that he intended to say up to 80%.
In some cities, such as Syracuse, the bounce rate was lower, about 30%, the spokesman said.
Musumeci said he understood why people would be concerned about the vaccine, but that Sicilians “have a duty to believe scientists” when they say the vaccine is safe, Sicilian Journal reports.
“The only solution is to immunize the Sicilian community,” he said.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week listed unusual platelets with low platelet counts as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The agency said the benefits of the shot outweigh the risks.
The Italian government has said that the AstraZeneca vaccine should be avoided by those under the age of 60, but that “anyone wishing to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca can stay.”
The fear of the vaccine is “understandable but unfair”, government adviser Franco Locatelli said on Sunday, AFP reported.
“I say we offer a vaccine that is safe and effective, that people have to accept,” he told the La Stampa newspaper.
“That said, if we face a disarming number of deviations, we will reconsider the issue.”
Italy has struggled to get its COVID-19 outbreak under control and its vaccination campaign has been criticized for being slow, the Washington Post reported.
It is unlikely that other European countries, which have experienced a decrease in the number of deaths, have kept Italy’s death rate high.
The country now has the seventh highest death rate from COVID-19, with more than 113,000 COVID-19 deaths as of April 11th. 22% of the population is older than 65 years, making it the second oldest population of any country. .
Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other countries have restricted the use of the vaccine to younger people due to concerns about unusual blood clots.
Experts told Insider that the shooting is still safe and less risky than flying in an airplane. One expert told Insider that the real risk is that skepticism against vaccines will increase among those offered the vaccine.