"From now on, every person will be able to freely decide whether they want to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine," Health Minister Arunas Dulkys told journalists on Thursday.
In his words, people will be able to choose any vaccine that will be available at that vaccination center.
"If the wanted vaccine is not available, the person will be contacted later," the minister said.
Another change is that from now on vaccination centers will get more freedom to move from one group of people being vaccinated to another.
Also, from now on vaccines will be distributed among municipal vaccination centers not only taking into account the number of residents in the priority groups but also taking into account a vaccination center's vaccination pace. The new rules will come into force as of Friday already.
According to the minister, if municipalities have unused vaccines, decisions will be made on distributing them among other municipalities.
"If it happens so that some municipalities have unused vaccine dozes, their redistribution among other municipalities and other vaccination centers will be considered," Dulkys said.
The changes follow the European Medicines Agency's conclusion that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, with Lithuania set to resume AstraZeneca vaccination on Friday.