As the majority of those over 60 should have been vaccinated by June, Germany has decided not to restrict the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to this age group but to allow all adults to benefit from it afterwards. consultation with their doctor.
According to the Minister of Health Jens Spahn, this "pragmatic" decision should allow "to be able to accelerate the vaccination campaign" in the country by adding that the cases of thrombosis detected in people who received this vaccine remained "very rare" in the country. world.
Just over a third of the German population has so far received a first dose of anti-Covid vaccine and 9% have received two injections.
According to the Minister of Health, around 10 million doses of Janssen, the name of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine in Europe, will be delivered around June or July in the country.
One dose is enough
As had been the case with the AstraZeneca vaccine, several countries have imposed age limits on the use of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, for those over 55 in France, 60 in Italy for example, while that Denmark has decided to give it up.
Others, like Iceland, allow it without an age limit.
At the same time as this announcement in Germany, a committee of experts set up by the Norwegian government to decide on the anti-Covid vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson on Monday recommended to give up these sera because of the risks. rare but serious side effects.
"We do not recommend the use of adenoviral vector vaccines in the national immunization program," said committee leader Lars Vorland, delivering his report to Minister of Health Bent Høie.
Experts advise, however, to offer these vaccines on a voluntary basis, without however agreeing on the criteria to be retained.
The European Medicines Agency and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend for their part to continue to use these vaccines, judging that their benefits outweigh the risks.
One of the great advantages of Janssen is that only one vaccination is enough to be immunized against Covid-19. Germany had also restricted the use of AstraZeneca to older people, before recently reopening it to everyone. Both vaccines, based on the same technology, are suspected of causing a very rare type of blood clots affecting veins in the brain, which in some cases are fatal.