Germany has clearly defined priority groups to be vaccinated first, but with many of them reluctant to be vaccinated with AstraZeneca, fears are growing that these doses will be left unused in warehouses while other people wait in line.
As in a number of other EU countries, the AstraZenec vaccine was recommended in Germany for people under the age of 65. At the same time, among the younger population from risk groups, they also do not want to get vaccinated, because the declared level of effectiveness is lower than that of Pfizer or Moderna, and the risk of adverse reactions is increased.
To date, Germany has only used 239,000 doses of AstraZenec out of 1.4 million received.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Zjoder suggested that the doses that are already "lying" in warehouses should be used for vaccination of all comers. The call was joined by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann and the Prime Minister of Saxony Michael Kretschmer.
Earlier, the government said it plans to offer the AstraZenec vaccine to key government officials to boost confidence in it. At the same time, recent polls show that 34% of Germans do not plan to be vaccinated against coronavirus at all.
