Corona aktuell: What does the AstraZeneca stop mean for people under 60?

Corona current
AstraZeneca stop for under 60s: what’s changing now?

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The corona vaccination with AstraZeneca has been stopped for people under 60. What is changing now? What does this mean for young and old? What if I have already been vaccinated?

And everything is different again. On Tuesday evening, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) announced that it would only recommend the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 60 years of age. Until recently, the opposite was true.

There had been a number of reports of sinus vein thrombosis in the brain related to vaccination with AstraZeneca over the past few weeks. According to the Paul Ehrlich Institute, 31 such suspected cases have been reported in Germany so far. Nine were fatal.

Since the majority of those affected were women under 55 years of age, the federal and state governments have now decided to only vaccinate people over 60 with AstraZeneca. The first federal states had previously decided to only give the vaccine to older people.

Many questions remain with young and old. What does this mean for the AstraZeneca vaccine? What’s next? And what do people under and over 60 years of age have to pay attention to now? We give an initial overview.

What happens if I have already had the first AstraZeneca vaccination and am under 60?

STIKO has announced that it will submit a plan for the second vaccination of people who have already received a dose of AstraZeneca and are under 60 by the end of April. During this period, according to the Tagesschau, it should be checked whether it would be possible to carry out the second vaccination with an mRna vaccine. Until then, those affected can contact their general practitioner in order to receive a risk assessment for the second vaccination with AstraZeneca. In the press conference of the federal and state governments, however, it was promised that everyone affected would receive complete vaccination protection.

I’m under 60 – can I still be vaccinated with AstraZeneca if I want to?

Yes. Younger people can voluntarily continue to be vaccinated with the active ingredient – but only “at the discretion of the doctor and with an individual risk analysis after careful clarification”, as stated in the federal-state decision, which is available to the ARD capital office. That is why vaccination with AstraZeneca for younger people should only be carried out by general practitioners, as they can get an individual picture of the patient’s state of health.

Will the vaccination prioritization change now?

According to Health Minister Jens Spahn, vaccination prioritization should now be handled flexibly. The federal states can now also offer vaccinations to 60 to 69 year olds. According to Spahn, this is a “pragmatic approach” because there is a higher risk of a more severe corona course in this age group.

Sources used: STIKO, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Robert Koch Institute, Tagesschau, NDR

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