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(Adds detail on vaccination progress, AstraZeneca decision)
BERLIN, May 7 (Reuters) - The third wave of the coronavirus
pandemic appears to be broken, German Health Minister Jens Spahn
said on Friday, as social distancing measures and an
accelerating vaccination campaign help lower the infection rate.
"The third wave appears to be broken," Spahn told a regular
weekly news briefing on Germany's pandemic management.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious
diseases, Lothar Wieler, said the incidence of COVID-19
infections was falling across all age groups, and he was hopeful
of soon controlling the pandemic in Germany.
The share of the population that has received a first
vaccine shot has reached 31.5%, with 900,000 getting a dose on
Thursday, putting Germany "in the fast lane" by international
comparison, said Spahn.
In a push to accelerate Germany's vaccination drive, Spahn
on Thursday allowed the shot from AstraZeneca to be
given to all adults - reversing earlier curbs imposed after
earlier reports of rare cases of blood clotting.
The decision followed moves by several German federal states
to allow people to get the AstraZeneca shot, in consultation
with their doctors.
"We are convinced that this offer is attractive for those
who would otherwise not get vaccinated so quickly," said Spahn,
adding that 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be
delivered to doctors' practices next week.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Maria Sheahan and
Paul Carrel)
