[ad_1]
German health officials have changed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and recommended that it be safe for those over 65.
The German Health Ministry said on Thursday that its independent vaccine committee has formally approved the COVID-19 jab for use in that age group.
Comes after refuted claims in Europe that the jab was as ineffective as 8% among the elderly.
Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world
Several EU countries have restricted the use of the AstraZeneca jab in older people.
German health officials have also said that delaying the second dose of the Oxford jab by 12 weeks, as the UK is doing, increases its effectiveness.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said the change in position is “good news for older people who are waiting for a vaccine,” adding: “They will get vaccinated faster.”
Germany had previously stated that there was not enough reliable efficacy data to allow the use of the AstraZeneca jab in people over 65 years of age.
Other European countries followed, including Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying it was “almost ineffective” for retirees.
But this week, France Changed his decision and approved for use in people ages 65 to 74 with underlying health problems.
Macron said he would accept the vaccine himself and urged his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, to do the same.
There has been widespread criticism of the relatively slow deployment of coronavirus vaccines within the EU, with many saying the bloc was unable to secure adequate supplies.
Subscribe to the daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
Original claims by a German newspaper that the Oxford jab was less than 10% effective in the elderly have also been widely refuted.
Researchers in Bristol this week found that the AstraZeneca vaccine is 80.4% effective to prevent those over 80 from being hospitalized with the virus.
Other studies have also suggested that it is just as effective. against Kent variant in the prevention of serious diseases.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen claimed that the UK had made a commitment to security by speeding up its authorization, despite the EU regulator reaching the same conclusions as the UK MHRA.
But with growing research to the contrary, he appears to have shifted his position in recent weeks, telling the German newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine: “I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine without a second thought, just like the Moderna and BioNTech-Pfizer products.” .
The EU currently has three COVID vaccines approved for use: Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
