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* All adults now free to get AZ shot, on doctor's advice
* Gap between doses can be as little as 4 weeks
* Experts warn on reduced efficacy with shorter gap
* Third wave of pandemic "appears to be broken" - minister
(Recasts to lead on AstraZeneca shift)
By Douglas Busvine and Paul Carrel
BERLIN, May 7 (Reuters) - Health Minister Jens Spahn on
Friday defended another U-turn by Germany on the AstraZeneca
vaccine, saying making it available to all adults who
want it would protect more people against COVID-19 more quickly.
Spahn announced late on Thursday that Germany would make
AstraZeneca available to all adults, subject to consulting a
doctor, and allow people to get a second shot as soon as four
weeks after the first.
The move comes with an eye to the summer holidays and
coincides with the rapid passage of legislation that would free
those fully vaccinated from social distancing measures imposed
to fight the pandemic.
Germany had previously limited the shot from the
Anglo-Swedish drugmaker to people over 60 after post-vaccination
monitoring found rare - and sometimes fatal - cases of blood
clotting, with younger women disproportionately affected.
Before that, its vaccine oversight body had said the shot
could not be given to the elderly because of a lack of data from
clinical trials.
With 70% of older people now inoculated and Germany's
vaccination drive gaining momentum, Spahn said the latest step
on AstraZeneca would offer a vaccination option to people who
would otherwise have to wait.
"We are convinced this offer is attractive for those who
would otherwise not get vaccinated so quickly," Spahn told a
news conference, adding that 1 million AstraZeneca doses would
be sent to doctors' practices next week.
THE SOONER, THE WORSE?
The decision by the federal government follows moves by
several German states to make AstraZeneca more widely available
and comes as the pace of giving shots of mainstay vaccines from
BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna picks up.
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
standards, said Spahn.
He said the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic "appears
to be broken" while Germany's top public health official, Lothar
Wieler, said infections were falling across all age groups
thanks to social distancing and the progress on vaccinations.
Confirmed cases rose by 18,485 on Friday, with 284
fatalities, while the seven-day incidence fell to 125.7 cases
per 100,000 people, data from the Robert Koch Institute showed.
However, experts criticised the decision to allow people to
receive the AstraZeneca vaccine at shorter intervals, saying
studies had shown its efficacy to be only around 55% with a
four-week gap and 80% with a 12-week delay to the second shot.
"We have to make it clear that if people shorten the gap
between AstraZeneca doses to enjoy greater freedom of movement
sooner, they are doing so at the cost of their immune
protection," said Carsten Watzl, professor of immunology at the
Dortmund Technical University.
Spahn said this was a decision that people should take with
proper advice, a view seconded by Robert Koch Institute head
Wieler.
"We know that the longer the gap before the second shot the
better the protection," Wieler said. "This is an informed
decision people can take in consultation with their doctors."
(Writing by Douglas Busvine
Editing by Gareth Jones)
