On 7 April, the government vaccine advisers (the JCVI) announced new advice for people aged 18-30 who don’t have an underlying condition (such as MS). This could include family, partners or carers of people with MS.
If these people are going for their first jab, they should be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, when possible.
This is because of extremely rare side effects of blood clots.
If you’re due for your second Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, the JCVI says you should still have it, even if you’re under 30 and have no underlying conditions. There have been no cases of blood clots reported after the second jab.
The chances of having a blood clot after the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are very small, and a link between the vaccine and the blood clots hasn’t been proven. But they’ve been reported in about 4 people in every 1 million who’ve had this vaccine.
The JCVI has not given the new advice for people under 30 because they are likely to develop blood clots. They are taking a very cautious approach and weighing up the small risk of blood clots against the benefits of taking the vaccine.
For people with underlying conditions, they say the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk.
People under 30 without underlying conditions are less at risk from COVID-19 complications. So the JCVI has decided that at the moment they should be offered an alternative vaccine where possible. Read more information here.