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* Spahn says doctors will now be more informed of risks
* Merkel to discuss speeding up rollout with state leaders
* Spahn says would favour supply deal for Russia's Sputnik V
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BERLIN, March 19 (Reuters) - Germany's health minister
warned on Friday there was not enough vaccine in Europe to
contain the COVID-19 third wave, as the country sought to get
its rollout back on track following a three-day pause in using
the AstraZeneca shot.
Case numbers have been rising in Germany, driven by an
easing of restrictions in recent weeks just as a more
transmissible variant of the virus has spread, underlining the
need to accelerate vaccinations to protect the vulnerable.
Health Minister Jens Spahn defended the suspension, which
was lifted on Thursday after European Union regulators said the
benefits outweighed the risk, as providing
transparency.
"We can reintroduce AstraZeneca but prudently with informed
doctors and appropriately educated citizens," he said in a
weekly news conference.
But he warned that vaccinations alone would not be able to
contain the third wave as there are not enough doses, and said
restrictions that were lifted may have to be reimposed to
contain the spread of the virus.
"The rising case numbers may mean that we cannot take
further opening steps in the weeks to come. On the contrary, we
may even have to take steps backwards," Spahn said.
State leaders are also due to discuss with Chancellor Angela
Merkel later on Friday ways to speed up the vaccination
campaign, among other by allowing family doctors to start
administering doses at their surgeries.
The suspension was the latest hurdle in Germany's
vaccination campaign, which has been plagued by delivery delays
and news reports of side-effects. As of Friday, just 8.5% of the
population had received a first shot, far behind other countries
like the United States and Britain.
German state leaders said they were ready to quickly catch
up on lost time. In Berlin, anyone who was due to receive an
AstraZeneca shot earlier in the week can turn up at vaccination
centres this weekend without an appointment.
YOUNGER WOMEN
Meanwhile, the premier of the southwestern German state of
Baden-Wuerttemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, 72, is due to receive
an AstraZeneca vaccination on Friday, in a move to shore up
confidence.
But Bodo Ramelow, the premier of Thuringia in eastern
Germany, said he would not advise his wife, who needs to use
blood thinners due to a risk of thrombosis, to get the
AstraZeneca shot although he would do so himself.
Karl Lauterbach, the main health expert of the SPD, Merkel's
junior coalition partner, said it was important to not create
the impression that the AstraZeneca vaccine was not suitable for
younger women.
In Germany, eight people were diagnosed with cerebral venous
sinus thrombosis (CVST) within about two weeks of being
vaccinated. They were among the 1.6 million recipients of the
shot as of Wednesday, with CVST cases higher among women.
Lauterbach said the higher incidence could be due to the
fact that younger women work in the health sector or in
kindergartens, groups that have received the AstraZeneca vaccine
in higher numbers.
Spahn said he hoped vaccinations could take place in
doctors' practices from April 19 at the latest, but warned that
supply would remain restricted.
Germany expects to receive 15 million doses of the
AstraZeneca vaccine in the second quarter, a few million fewer
than initially expected, he said.
Spahn also spoke out in favour of signing a supply deal for
the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19, but said there
needed to be greater clarity on the quantities available.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Maria Sheahan and
Paul Simao)
