Germany And France Now Support The use Of The AstraZeneca Vaccine For The Over 65’s

Germany And France Now Support The use Of The AstraZeneca Vaccine For The Over 65’s.

Germany and France could both soon authorise the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for seniors after the head of Germany’s vaccination committee said his body’s advice to give the Oxford-developed vaccine only to those under 65 had “somehow gone wrong”.

Although millions of older people in Britain have been immunised with the vaccine, many European countries have restricted its use, citing an initial lack of evidence of its effectiveness on them. Asked this week if she would herself receive a dose to counter doubts being widely expressed over the vaccine, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, replied simply that as a 66-year-old she did not “belong to the recommended group”.

Unlike the European Medicines Agency or Britain’s MHRA, Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) last month recommended against the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on seniors, citing a lack of conclusive trial data to prove its efficacy in that age group.

However, the independent panel’s decision has faced increased criticism since, as the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company’s product has been piling up in storage due to public scepticism and authorities’ lagging behind in inviting people from the next priority group in line for appointments.

A committee at Germany’s disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, had originally said there was insufficient data to judge how effective the vaccine was for people over 65, and as a result it could only recommend using the vaccine on people aged 18 to 64. In all other respects the AstraZeneca vaccine was as “equally suitable” as those manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, it said.

Spain Will Not Use The AstraZeneca Vaccine On Anybody Aged Over 55

Fernando Simón, the director of the Center for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) in Spain, announced today, Friday, Feb. 5, that after a meeting of The Public Health Commission of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, in which the Ministry of Health and all the Autonomous Communities are represented, it has been agreed that the AstraZeneca vaccine will only be administered to people between the ages 18 and 55 years old.

Check back on this as Spain may have to use the AstraZeneca on the over 65’s due to lack of supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

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