BERLIN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's vaccine
against the coronavirus is effective and Germans should take it
if it is offered, the head of Germany's Robert Koch Institute
for Infectious Diseases said on Friday.
Institute head Lothar Wieler told a news conference that as
more data came in from countries like Britain and Israel where
there had already been extensive vaccination, the clearer it
became that AstraZeneca's product was very effective, just like
rival products from BioNTech/Pfizer and
Moderna.
A study of 500,000 vaccinations in Scotland found that the
vaccine had reduced hospitalisations by 94%, he said, calling
that result "fantastic".
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt
Editing by Paul Carrel)