ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Friday said he himself will take the AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot, adding he was convinced the decision to temporarily suspend the vaccine was not a mistake.
“Yes, I will do the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Draghi said in his first news conference since becoming prime minister in February.
Italy resumed use of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine on Friday after a three day pause due to concerns about possible blood clotting side effects, following a green light from Europe’s medicines watchdog EMA.
Draghi said he believed any impact on people refusing to take AstraZeneca in the next days would be temporary.
“We will vaccinate 500,000 people every day in April and we aim to increase them further in May and June”, Draghi said.
(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte, Editing by Franklin Paul)
