Germany Restricts The Use Of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine For People Under 60 Years Old

Vaccine AstraZeneca. (Wikimedia Commons / gencat cat)

JAKARTA - The German Ministry of Health agreed that starting this Wednesday, March 31st, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is only for those aged 60 years and over, because of concerns that it will cause blood clots.

Health Minister Jens Spahn and state officials agreed unanimously on Tuesday to only give vaccines to people aged 60 or over unless they fall into the high-risk category for serious illness from COVID-19, reported by Euronews.

In addition, they have agreed with their doctors to receive the vaccine, despite the small risk of serious side effects. This decision was taken based on the advice of the German Vaccine Committee (STIKO)

Meanwhile, people under 60 years of age who have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, have the option of receiving the second dose as planned if they have a high priority. Or, wait for STIKO to issue recommendations targeted at the end of April.

Previously, STIKO had recommended that injections be used only for people aged 60 years and over, based on available data on the occurrence of rare but very severe thromboembolic side effects. STIKO is also looking into the possibility of giving a second injection with a different COVID vaccine.

Responding to STIKO's recommendations, AstraZeneca said that patient safety was of the highest priority and noted that European and British medical agencies have not been able to establish a cause-and-effect link between injections and clotting.

"We will continue to work with German authorities to answer any questions they may have", AstraZeneca told Reuters.

The Health Ministry meeting was held after a report from the German vaccine regulator, Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), about a case of blood clotting known as cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (CSVT).

PEI said it had registered 31 cases of CSVT, which resulted in nine deaths, out of an estimated 2.7 million people who had received AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. With the exception of two cases, all reports involved women between the ages of 20 and 63.

Before STIKO issued its statement, several German states, including Berlin and Brandenburg, as well as the city of Munich, said they would stop firing at people under 60.

The Charite and Vivantes state hospital groups suspended vaccination of female staff under 55, citing a further case of CSVT.

Since the use of the vaccine in Germany was initially limited to those under 65 years of age, injections have been given among younger women, especially medical staff and teachers.

To note, a number of European countries had stopped vaccinating with the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month, along with the finding of rare cases of blood clots.

Meanwhile, both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) agree that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks.

The EMA review, which included 20 million people who received AstraZeneca injections in the UK and European economic regions, found seven cases of blood clots in multiple vessels and 18 cases of CVST.

Before Germany, France first decided to limit the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 55 years or over on 19 March.

Meanwhile, Canadian health officials said on Monday this week, they would stop offering AstraZeneca injections to people under the age of 55. And, requires a new analysis of the benefits and risks of injections by age and sex.