Coronavirus: Germany limits use of AstraZeneca vaccine over blood disorder fears
- Use of the shots will be restricted to people aged 60 and above as well as high-priority groups
- The new limit on the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is another setback in Germany’s already sluggish vaccination campaign
Germany will from Wednesday limit the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to people aged 60 and above as well as high-priority groups following further reports of a rare brain blood disorder.
“We have to be able trust the vaccines,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists at a news conference on Tuesday. “And transparency is the best way to deal with such a situation,” she added.
Acting on advice from Germany’s vaccine committee, known as Stiko, Germany’s federal and state health ministries agreed that under 60-year-olds should receive the AstraZeneca vaccine only if they belong to high-priority groups, which include high-risk patients and medical workers, in consultation with a doctor.
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People aged below 60 who have already received a first AstraZeneca shot have the option of either receiving their second shot as planned, if they are high priority, or to wait for Stiko to issue its recommendation, which it is expected to do by the end of April.
The new limit on the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is another setback in Germany’s already sluggish vaccination campaign.
Earlier, Stiko recommended the shot be used only for people aged 60 and above “on the basis of available data on the occurrence of rare but very severe thromboembolic side-effects”.
Stiko is also looking into the possibility of administering a second shot with a different Covid-19 vaccine.