Germany’s vaccine committee said AstraZeneca vaccine should not be given to over-65, as there is insufficient data on the effectiveness of the jab in people over that age.
“AstraZeneca shouldn’t be given to over-65”
Germany may not allow AstraZeneca vaccine to be injected to over-65. Germany’s vaccine committee has in fact announced they consider data on the effectiveness of the vaccine on over-65 to be insufficient.
“The AstraZeneca vaccine… should only be offered to people aged 18-64 years at each stage”, said the committee. German Health Minister, Jens Spahn had warned about vaccine shortages and called for a vaccination summit to discuss how the vaccine rollout could be accelerated. Germany is also preparing a border ban for travellers coming from the UK, Brazil and South Africa, in order to protect the country from the new covid variants.
The EU is behind with vaccinations
At the moment, 8,4m people in Europe have been vaccinated, which is the 1,9% of the total population. 2.3bn vaccine doses have been ordered, among which 400m are from AstraZeneca. Europe’s vaccination programme has had a slow start in all countries which was highly criticised. Officials blamed logistical and supply issues.
Europe is facing vaccine shortages and anger grows in the continent after AstraZeneca confirmed they will be distributing other 100m doses to the UK first as stipulated in a contract, although the President of European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen had recalled the investment made by Europe in developing the vaccine.
The row between Europe and the pharmaceutical giant started after AstraZeneca said production issues in Europe meant they would not be able to distribute the promised number of doses to the continent and Europe responded asking to have jabs diverted from the UK.
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