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In an attempt to stop unused doses from going to waste, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony have suspended the vaccine priority list for AstraZeneca. This means that anyone who wishes to receive the vaccine in these federal states can now receive it. Bremen is also considering following suit.
“The vaccine from the British-Swedish manufacturer is now approved for all age groups regardless of priority,” Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Health Minister Harry Glawe announced on Wednesday afternoon, signalling that his state would make the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 available to all who were willing to get the shot.
The new rule applies for vaccines administered in doctors’ surgeries, vaccination centres, hospitals and by mobile vaccination teams. Those who “have little or no reservations about the vaccine” are invited to use the opportunity, said Glawe, adding that the aim was to have no vaccine doses left lying around. Anyone under the age of 60 can receive the vaccine, provided the administering doctor gives them detailed advice as to the potential risks beforehand.
A little later on Wednesday evening, Bavaria followed suit: “The priority list has been lifted in the case of AstraZeneca with immediate effect,” said Health Minister Klaus Holetschek. “The vaccine can also be offered to people under the age of 60 in medical practices.”
In the state of Saxony, the priority list has been suspended for AstraZeneca vaccinations since Tuesday.
The city-state of Bremen is also reportedly considering making the same change, citing the reluctance of many high-priority people to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, resulting in nearly empty vaccination centres. “We are calling for the priority list or the AstraZeneca vaccine to be lifted,” said Cristoph Fox of the Bremen Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians.