Last checked at 
* Expert panel cites insufficient data in older age group
* EU regulators due to decide on AstraZeneca vaccine on
Friday
* Health minister says recommendation not final
(Adds health minister, details on Britain's vaccination
rollout)
BERLIN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine
should only be given to people aged between 18 and 64, Germany's
vaccine committee said in a draft recommendation, a day ahead of
a decision by European regulators on whether to approve the
drugmaker's shot.
"There are currently insufficient data available to assess
the vaccine efficacy from 65 years of age," the committee, also
known as Stiko, said in a draft resolution made available by the
German health ministry on Thursday.
"The AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike the mRNA vaccines, should
only be offered to people aged 18-64 years at each stage," it
added.
Stiko's assessment was based on the same trial data
published by medical journal The Lancet on Dec 8.
The European Union approved a vaccine developed by Pfizer
and its German partner BioNTech in late
December, and gave the green light to a shot made by Moderna
in early January.
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
On Monday, the drugmaker denied that its COVID-19 vaccine is
not very effective for people over 65, after German media
reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in
the European Union for use in the elderly.
The German health ministry said of the 341 people vaccinated
in the group aged 65 and over, only one became infected with the
coronavirus, meaning the expert vaccine panel had not been able
to derive a statistically significant statement.
AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said the company
had less data than other drugmakers on the elderly because it
started vaccinating older people later.
"But we have strong data showing very strong antibody
production against the virus in the elderly, similar to what we
see in younger people," he told Die Welt newspaper in an
interview earlier this week.
Germany is grappling with limited vaccine doses after Pfizer
and AstraZeneca announced delays to deliveries in recent weeks,
and Health Minister Jens Spahn warned the shortage would last
well into April.
Spahn said there were younger age groups with existing
conditions who were waiting to be vaccinated, adding the final
recommendation on the use of the AstraZeneca shot would only
come following EU approval.
As well as those aged over 80 and people living in senior
citizens' homes, Germany is prioritising front-line medical and
care staff.
In late December, Britain became the first country to
approve the coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University
and AstraZeneca.
The government said it would not recommend one vaccine over
another for different cohorts of the population, even though
data on the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot's efficacy in older people
is currently limited.
It began rolling out the vaccine in January in a campaign
that has targeted older people and seen more than 7 million
given their first dose. Britain has also been using the vaccine
developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley
Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson and Ludwig Burger;
Editing by Maria Sheahan and Alexandra Hudson)
