Interesting from the Irish Times this morning
German health authorities have recommended that AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine should be not be given to those aged over 65 due to a lack of data, in a potential fresh blow to vaccination efforts in the European Union.
It comes on the eve of an expected approval of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and amid a fierce row over a drastic cut in expected deliveries by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, which has spurred the EU to move to control exports of vaccines from the bloc.
There is “insufficient data currently available to ascertain how effective the vaccination is above 65 years”, the vaccine committee of Germany’s main public health agency the Robert Koch Institute said in a statement. “The AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike the mRNA vaccines, should only be offered to people aged 18-64 years at each stage.”
UK rollout
Only 341 people aged over 65 in AstraZeneca’s trial received the vaccine, and 319 were given a placebo, meaning that too little data is available to show the vaccine’s effectiveness in that age group with certainty, the committee said.
It comes on the eve of an expected approval of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and amid a fierce row over a drastic cut in expected deliveries by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, which has spurred the EU to move to control exports of vaccines from the bloc.
There is “insufficient data currently available to ascertain how effective the vaccination is above 65 years”, the vaccine committee of Germany’s main public health agency the Robert Koch Institute said in a statement. “The AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike the mRNA vaccines, should only be offered to people aged 18-64 years at each stage.”
UK rollout
Only 341 people aged over 65 in AstraZeneca’s trial received the vaccine, and 319 were given a placebo, meaning that too little data is available to show the vaccine’s effectiveness in that age group with certainty, the committee said.
22-25, F