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| - Prime Minister Mario Draghi sought Friday to reassure Italians over the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which was suspended this week before being declared safe, saying he would have it himself. "I have not yet made a booking, but my age group is among those who are allowed to have the vaccine and yes, I will have the AstraZeneca," the 73-year-old told a press conference, the day after the EU medicines agency gave the jab the green light. "My son had it the day before yesterday in England," he added. Italy's medicines regulator suspended the use of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines on Monday following fears of a link to blood clots -- despite the deteriorating health situation which saw most of the country put into partial lockdown this week. But administration of the jabs resumed on Friday afternoon after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday declared the vaccine "safe and effective". Draghi said the suspension -- which government sources suggested led to 200,000 fewer jabs this week -- had slowed the vaccination campaign "but this slowdown has not been disastrous". Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank who took over at the head of a national unity government last month, has set a target of nearly tripling the number of daily vaccine injections to 500,000 per day by mid-April. aa-ar/pvh
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