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Germany backtracks on blocking AstraZeneca vaccine for under 60s

Germany will approve Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for adults of all ages, reversing its block on younger age groups. 

Jens Spahn, the German health minister, said on Thursday that authorities would lift the suspension on using the jab on people aged under 60. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in March that following advice from the country’s vaccine committee, officials would only administer the AstraZeneca jab on over 60s because of the risk of rare blood clots. 

The decision contravened recommendations from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization who stressed the benefits outweighed the risk.

In addition to the backtrack, Mr Spahn said Germany aimed to offer 12- to 18-year-olds a vaccine by the end of August, provided regulators give approval for the BioNTech/Pfizer shot for that age group.

"Both these measures serve to further to accelerate our vaccination campaign overall," he said.

Concern over the rare clot risk prompted the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to advise that Britons under 30 receive a different jab from AstraZeneca.

Reference: The Telegraph: Ewan Somerville , Phoebe Southworth  6 days ago