AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Approved in Germany for Use in Individuals Aged 65 and Older

Compiled by lili

On March 5, foreign media reported that the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been approved in Germany for use in individuals aged 65 and older, after the country had previously chosen not to authorize its use in this age group.

Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends extending the interval between the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine to a maximum of 12 weeks, as studies indicate that prolonging the time between doses can enhance vaccine efficacy. These findings, published in a preprint in The Lancet, state that “vaccine efficacy increases with longer intervals after the second dose, reaching 82.4% when the interval between the two doses is 12 weeks or more.”

Earlier this year, Germany’s Handelsblatt and Bild reported separately that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine was only 8% or less than 10% effective in people aged 65 and older. AstraZeneca refuted German media reports claiming that the AstraZeneca/Oxford collaborative vaccine was ineffective in individuals over 65. In response, AstraZeneca stated that these reports were “completely wrong” and cited clinical data to underscore the vaccine’s benefits in this patient population.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) both recommend the use of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine for individuals aged 65 and older.

A recent real-world study by Public Health England (PHE) also found that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine can significantly reduce the incidence of severe COVID-19 in older adults. The primary endpoints of this real-world study included COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths among vaccinated individuals aged 70 years and older with symptomatic, nucleic acid test-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study found that a single dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine provided 60%-73% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 four weeks after administration. Data further indicated that in individuals aged 80 years and older, a single dose of either the AstraZeneca/Oxford or Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was more than 80% effective in preventing COVID-19-related hospitalizations three to four weeks post-vaccination.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced the committee’s decision last Thursday, stating that this move is good news for elderly people awaiting injection, as they can now receive vaccinations more quickly; authorities will soon issue regulations to implement the measure.

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