Germany wants to give priority to the elderly

The German government wants to stop giving preference to those over 65 years of age to access AstraZeneca’s anti – Kovid vaccine, the health minister said on Saturday, following the advice of experts whose age is suspected of their effectiveness.

Also read: German professionals camp for refusal for those 65 and older

Also read: AstraZeneca has questioned the effectiveness of its vaccine in the elderly

“We now need to review the vaccine sequence,” Jens Spann said during a discussion with nursing staff about the “age limits of the estrogen vaccine.”

Following the initial opinion, the German Vaccine Authority on Friday reiterated its recommendation that those aged 65 and over should not be authorized to use the estrogen vaccine.

Experts believe there is “insufficient data to comment on the effect of the vaccine on the elderly”.

They took the opposite view of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which on Friday approved the unrestricted use in the European Union of those over 18 years of age.

Minister Jens Spann said he wanted the German experts to “apply” the decision.

The vaccine, which comes from a British laboratory, is used primarily to immunize young people and is essentially a “preservative,” he said.

Official authority from German officials will be unveiled fresh early next week.

The vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, is the third to receive green light from EMA, after coming out of Pfizer-Bioentech on December 21 and Moderna on January 6.

The authority came amid controversy over a delay in delivery from an English laboratory in Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called a summit of German officials and manufacturers on the issue on Monday.

Despite the delay, Jens Spann said on Saturday he would receive “5 million additional doses by February 22”, including all vaccines.

According to the Robert Koch Health Watch Institute, 2.2% of the German population received at least one dose of the vaccine or 1,855,457 on Friday.