Australia abandons vaccination targets

Australia has abandoned a goal to vaccinate nearly all of its 26 million population by the end of 2021 following advice that people under the age of 50 take Pfizer’s vaccine rather than Astrazeneca’s shot.

Australia, which had banked on the Astrazeneca vaccine for the majority of its shots, had no plans to set any new targets for completing its vaccination program, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Authorities changed their recommendation on Thursday, after European regulators reiterated the possibility of links between the Astrazeneca shot and reports of rare cases of blood clots.