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AstraZeneca's vaccine is due to be approved in the EU on Friday
Photo: REUTERS
The news attracted a lot of attention as it threatened to overturn Germany's vaccination plan.
On Monday evening, the "Handelsblatt" reported, citing coalition circles, that the AstraZeneca corona vaccine is only expected to be effective at eight percent in the group of people over 65.
The »Bild« had also reported that the vaccine may be significantly less effective in the elderly.
But now the Ministry of Health contradicts and points to a possible mix-up.
Proportion of patients over 65 years of age confused with effectiveness?
"At first glance it seems that two things were confused in the reports: Around eight percent of the subjects in the AstraZeneca effectiveness study were between 56 and 69 years old, only three to four percent over 70," said a spokesman.
"From this, however, an effectiveness of only eight percent in the elderly can be derived." The figures come from a report by the British regulatory authority for drugs MHRA, which approved the vaccine in Great Britain.
There it is also used with older people.
The possible diminishing doubts about the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine among seniors are also boosting AstraZeneca's stock on the stock market.
The paper has meanwhile gained 1.4 percent in London.
However, if the reports of lower efficacy were correct, that would be a major setback.
AstraZeneca's vaccine is slated for approval in the EU and thus also in Germany this week.
According to the vaccination plan that has been in effect up to now, it should therefore be given preference to people over the age of 80.
These have a particularly high risk of dying from an infection with the coronavirus.
AstraZeneca's vaccine could also be particularly useful for people who cannot live in nursing homes or go to vaccination centers.
The reason: It doesn't have to be cooled as much and is therefore easier to distribute.
According to "Handelsblatt", the Federal Ministry of Health is examining whether the vaccination sequence, which is staggered according to age, needs to be adjusted because of the allegedly low effectiveness of the AstraZeneca preparation in seniors.
For the government's vaccination plan, the result could be that the 65 to 75 age group could miss several million scheduled doses, the newspaper wrote.
The Ministry of Health has not yet confirmed this.
Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) said, however, that he did not want to participate in speculations about an allegedly poorer effectiveness of the vaccine in over 65-year-olds.
He wanted to wait until the data from the studies had been evaluated.
"I think little of doing that now speculatively in headlines," said Spahn on Tuesday in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin".
He said a decision will be made next week on the basis of the scientific evidence "which age groups will be vaccinated with this vaccine first."
"Completely incorrect"
Previously, manufacturer AstraZeneca had also rejected the reports as "completely incorrect".
A spokeswoman referred to data published in November by the specialist magazine "The Lancet", according to which the elderly had shown a strong immune system reaction to the drug.
In 100 percent of "older adults", antibodies specifically directed against the coronavirus were generated after the second vaccination dose.
However, another study states that there is still too little data on effectiveness in this age group due to the low number of cases.
However, AstraZeneca has come under fire in the EU because the company recently announced that it would be able to deliver fewer cans than planned to the European Union.
The company cited problems in a production facility as the reason.
AstraZeneca did not initially announce how large the failures will be.
In the case of deliveries to Great Britain, however, there should be no delays.
The »Handelsblatt« has not yet commented on the possible mix-up.
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koe / dpa
