If you’re over 65, you shouldn’t get this new vaccine, experts warn

In the United States, there are two approved COVID vaccines – one from Pfizer and one from Moderna – which are given to anyone over the age of 16 and 18, respectively. But, according to the recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early priority has gone to people over 75, as they are particularly vulnerable to severe illness from COVID. Today, two new vaccines are on the horizon in the United States, one from Johnson & Johnson and the other from AstraZeneca. The latter is already in use in the UK and half a dozen other countries. However, German officials just released a statement that they are not recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine for the most vulnerable group – people over 65. The Grim COVID Rumor the White House has just confirmed.

CNN reports that on January 28, the German Vaccine Commission recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine not be given to people over 65, according to a statement from the German Interior Ministry. The statement cited a study by the Standing Committee on Immunization at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, which found that there was insufficient data on vaccine efficacy for this specific age group. In their opinion, the vaccine should only be offered to people between the ages of 18 and 65. And for more up-to-date COVID news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

Germany’s health ministry has expressed concern that insufficient numbers of elderly people were included in the initial trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine to consider it safe and effective for this population. According to The Guardian, Jens SpahnThe German Federal Minister of Health said in a statement, “It has been known since the fall that fewer seniors have been included in trials provided by AstraZeneca than trials by other manufacturers.” Without complete trial data on people over 65, experts are concerned about how the vaccine will affect this population. And for more vaccine precautions to take, find out why Dr Fauci says doing this after you’ve been vaccinated is a huge mistake.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is already widely used overseas, but there have been a few examples that have called its effectiveness into question. According to the Australian Broadcasting Company, the average efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in trials was around 70%, significantly lower than that of Pfizer and Moderna, both of which have efficacy rates close to 95%. For another vaccine update from one of these companies, find out why Moderna’s CEO just made that chilling prediction about COVID.

AstraZeneca likely won’t be able to seek approval for its vaccine in the United States until spring, Business Insider reports. In the initial trial, some of the participants over 55 were mistakenly given half a dose for their first injection. Due to this error, AstraZeneca is waiting for the results of a larger trial in the United States to present information to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Enrollment in the 30,000-person US trial of AstraZeneca began in September and Phase 3 is currently underway. It is hoped that the results of this trial will prove the effectiveness of the vaccine for people over 65 years of age.

After getting clearance from the FDA, the vaccine will also need to be approved by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), meaning we likely won’t see this vaccine in the United States until after. been at the earliest. To see what side effects might occur with your second dose, check out Dr Fauci says he had these side effects from his second dose of the vaccine.