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(Adds vaccination summit postponed, updates data)
BERLIN, March 16 (Reuters) - Coronavirus infections are
rising exponentially in Germany, an expert at the Robert Koch
Institute for infectious diseases said on Tuesday, adding that
the risk of AstraZeneca's vaccine was relatively low.
The number of cases per 100,000 reported on Tuesday was
83.7, up from 68 a week ago, and the RKI has said that metric
could reach 200 by the middle of next month.
"We are exactly on the flank of the third wave(of the
COVID-19 pandemic). That can no longer be disputed. And at this
point we have eased the restrictions and that is speeding up the
exponential growth," Dirk Brockmann, an epidemiologist at the
RKI, told Germany's ARD television.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders agreed a phased
easing of curbs earlier this month along with an "emergency
brake" to let authorities reimpose restrictions if case numbers
rise above 100 per 100,000 on three consecutive days.
On Tuesday, the number of cases per 100,000 rose to 83.7, up
from 68 a week ago, and the RKI has said that metric could reach
200 by the middle of next month.
On Monday, Germany suspended use of AstraZeneca's
COVID-19 vaccine, making it the latest of several European
countries to hit "pause" following reports of blood coagulation
disorders in recipients.
The decision followed a recommendation from the Paul Ehrlich
Institute (PEI), Germany's authority in charge of vaccines,
following seven cases of thrombosis, including three deaths.
A planned meeting between Merkel and state leaders on
Wednesday to discuss using family doctors to administer COVID-19
vaccines has been postponed until after the European Medicines
Agency completes its review into the AstraZeneca shot, a
government spokesman said.
AstraZeneca has said an analysis of its safety data covering
reported cases from over 17 million vaccine doses given had
shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism,
deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia - having low levels of
platelets.
Brockmann said it made sense to explain the relative risks
to the population, noting that 1,000 people in a million had
died of COVID-19, compared to possibly 1 in a million from
complications associated with the vaccine.
"In the risk groups, the risk of dying of COVID is much,
much higher. That means it is probably 100,000 times more likely
to die of COVID than because of an AstraZeneca vaccine," he
said.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Caroline Copley, Editing by
Riham Alkousaa, Shri Navaratnam and Timothy Heritage)
