AstraZeneca and Oxford vaccine vials DADO RUVIC / Reuters
"AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine is currently recommended for people ages 18 to 64 based on available data."
It is the conclusion of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the reference in Germany for infectious diseases, on the immunization of the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca, which is expected to be approved this Friday by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for use in all member states of the Union.
The RKI states in a draft report, to which EL PAÍS has had access, that data on the efficacy of the vaccine in people over 65 years of age are still scarce and do not allow conclusions to be drawn, although it emphasizes that the drug is safe.
The report was released Thursday at noon in various local media, which made incorrect statements, such as that the government expected an 8% effectiveness in people over 65 years of age.
The draft report does not conclude that;
what it explains is that the data made public by the pharmaceutical company are not statistically significant.
The group of participants older than 65 years is small: 341 people received the vaccine dose and 319 the placebo.
Only one in each group later became infected with coronavirus.
This precludes making strong claims, according to the Robert Koch Institute's Standing Committee on Immunization (STIKO).
The final report will be published this Friday, confirmed a spokeswoman for the center, after the EMA has made its recommendation.
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If the agency's recommendation is confirmed, the vaccine could be used with healthcare personnel or for people between 60 and 65 years old, German media are advancing.
After disseminating the opinion of the scientists, the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, clarified that the recommendation is not final.
The report was released in the midst of a crisis between the European Union, the United Kingdom and the AstraZeneca company.
Brussels is upset that the drugmaker suddenly announced last week that it would not be able to ship all the committed doses for the first quarter of the year.
The Commission wants you to use the vaccines manufactured in plants on British soil to fulfill its commitment and reserves the right to prohibit exports of vials from Union territory.
London tries to avoid controversy while securing its own supply.
The head of Immunization of the United Kingdom Public Health Agency, Mary Ramsay, said after the report of the Robert Koch Institute that the British vaccine is as safe as Pfizer's and that it offers high levels of protection against covid-19 , especially against the development of serious disease.
Ramsey said in a statement provided by the agency that few older people participated in the trials, but "the data on immune responses was very reassuring."
"The risk of serious illness and death increases exponentially with age, so the priority is to vaccinate as many vulnerable people as possible as soon as possible with any of the approved vaccines, to protect more people and save more lives", added.
The AstraZeneca and Oxford vaccine will be the third to be cleared by the EMA for conditional marketing authorization in the EU.
The two already approved, those from Pfizer and Moderna, are made with genetic material (RNA) from the coronavirus, while the British one is based on a weakened version of a genetically modified chimpanzee common cold adenovirus to include the instructions that teach the immune system to defend itself against infection.
This immunization has advantages over the other two, including its lower price and that it is kept in conventional refrigerators (Pfizer's requires a constant temperature of 70 degrees below zero).
The EMA declined to comment on the recommendation of the German experts and sent a statement in which it assures that it will be this Friday, January 29, when it issues its own recommendation.
The director, Emer Cooke, will give a virtual press conference in the early afternoon to report on her decision.
AstraZeneca's vaccine is already administered in the United Kingdom, which has a more agile vaccination rate than European Union countries, and is not limited by age.
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