德国将要批准给65岁以上的老人打阿斯利康疫苗，瑞典限制在65岁以下。
Germany will authorize Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for over 65s
From CNN's AJ Davis in Atlanta
A doctor administers an Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Berlin, Germany, on February 10. Kay Nietfeld/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Germany's vaccine commission will soon authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged over 65, following the latest studies, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.
The commission had recommended in January that the vaccine should not be given to over 65s due to insufficient data.
Coronavirus restrictions nationwide will be eased in five stages, Merkel added -- each additional step will be taken every 14 days if infection rates stay low.
“We will install an emergency brake if we get into an exponential growth of infections surpassing a weekly rate of 100 per 100,000," she said.
Merkel also said that all Germans will be able to receive a free rapid test every week, starting March 8.
32 min ago
Sweden moves towards eliminating upper age limit on AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
From CNN’s James Frater and Henrik Pettersson
Syringes are loaded with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine at the Skane University Hospital vaccination centre in Malmo, Sweden, on February 17. Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency/AFP/Getty Images
The Swedish Health Authority, Folkhälsomyndigheten, recommended eliminating the upper age limit for use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. This would allow it to be used on people over age 65.
“New data from the UK confirms that AstraZeneca's vaccine has a good protective effect even for people over 65 years of age,” the Health Authority said
in a statement Thursday.
The decision follows reversals made by Belgium and Germany, who have also changed their advice on administering the AstraZeneca vaccine in the elderly.
Many European countries have set an upper limit on the age of recipients of the vaccine, citing a lack of clinical study information about its effects on older people.
In February the Swedish Health Authority approved the vaccine only for use in people under age 65, saying at the time of authorization there was “too little data on the vaccine's protective effect for people over 65 years of age.
“Waiting for more data was considered necessary, as the need for protection of the elderly is particularly high due to their increased risk of serious illness and death by Covid-19,” the statement said.
Swedish State Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell said that “all vaccines offered are very effective and according to the studies have a good protective effect for anyone over 18 years.”
Three vaccines are approved for use in Sweden: Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca.
According to
the latest data from the Swedish Health Authority, 568,031 people have received at least one vaccine dose (6.9% of the adult population) and 285,178 (3.5%) have been given both doses.
