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* Decision brings Germany into line with EU guidance
* Maximum gap between doses extended to 12 weeks
* People who recover from COVID-19 to get one shot of Astra
* Germany looks to hurry up lagging vaccine rollout
(Adds single shot for recovered COVID patients, context on
vaccinations)
By Thomas Escritt
BERLIN, March 4 (Reuters) - Germany's vaccination authority
has approved the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine on the
over-65s, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, in a step that
should help accelerate the country's faltering inoculation
drive.
It added that the Permanent Vaccination Commission had
recommended extending to a maximum 12 weeks the period between
receiving the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca shot on
the back of studies showing a longer gap improved its efficacy.
"This is good news for older people who are waiting for a
vaccine. They can now be vaccinated more quickly," Health
Minister Jens Spahn said in a statement. "We will shortly issue
a regulation implementing both recommendations."
People who have recovered from COVID-19 should receive a
single dose of the AstraZeneca shot six months after their
diagnosis, the Vaccination Commission said in a statement issued
via the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
The ruling follows a similar moves in Spain, France, Italy
and Sweden and accounts for the immunity engendered in patients
who have recovered from the flu-like disease.
Germany declined initially to authorise AstraZeneca's
vaccine for those aged above 65, saying there was a lack of
evidence from clinical trials confirming its effectiveness.
PUBLIC SCEPTICISM
That decision contributed to public scepticism over whether
the AstraZeneca shot was as effective as alternatives. News
reports of strong side-effects among front-line workers also
slowed takeup, causing doses to go unused.
AstraZeneca has delivered 2.1 million doses of its vaccine
to Germany but only 630,000 have been used so far, according to
the latest figures from the Health Ministry and the Robert Koch
Institute for infectious diseases.
In total, just 5.5% of people have received a first vaccine
dose in Germany - behind countries like Israel, Britain and the
United States that have made faster progress.
Growing data showing the AstraZeneca shot's efficacy among
the elderly in Britain led to the change of heart in Berlin,
while France also eased a ban this week on giving the shot to
people over the age of 65.
The German decision was in line with recommendations by the
European Union's health regulator that the second shot of
AstraZeneca's vaccine be administered between four and 12 weeks
after the first.
There was no mention in the health ministry statement of the
other main vaccine being used in Germany, made by U.S. drugmaker
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Spahn had called for the gap between administering the two
Pfizer shots to be extended to six weeks to stretch supply.
The current recommendation from the European Union's health
regulator is for the Pfizer vaccine to be administered at
three-week intervals, in line with the company's own guidance.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt
Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Douglas Busvine)
