AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine can be used for people aged over 65 - WHO

GENEVA - Experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine can be used for people aged over 65, and also where coronavirus variants of concern are circulating.

The announcement came after the vaccine suffered several setbacks, raising questions about whether it was appropriate to use it on older people, or in places where a variant of the virus first found in South Africa is circulating.

The WHO noted that the results of the study only showed limited effectiveness against mild forms of Covid-19, but that there was no evidence that the vaccine does not protect against severe disease.

The UN health agency added, however, that there is an "urgent need for a coordinated approach for surveillance and evaluation of variants and their potential impact on vaccine effectiveness."