Germany’s vaccination committee only recommends the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to people under 65, it said on Thursday.
There is not enough data available for older people, according to STIKO, the Standing Committee on Vaccination at the Robert Koch Institute, which is Germany’s equivalent of Sciensano.
The vaccine is awaiting a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for a conditional marketing authorisation. That recommendation could come on Friday, after which the European Commission would have to approve it.
If approved, it would be the third vaccine with a conditional marketing authorisation in the EU, after Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
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However, the lack of data concerning older people makes the vaccine's EMA approval less evident than those of Pfizer and Moderna, according to De Standaard.
Only 341 elderly people received the vaccine, and one of them was infected with coronavirus after all, De Tijd and HLN report.
Meanwhile, the vaccine has already been in use in the United Kingdom since the beginning of January.
Jason Spinks
The Brussels Times
