Merkel says she won’t have the Oxford jab
As a single patient waits for his vaccine in image that lays bare EU fiasco...
THE European Union’s vaccine shambles deepened last night as Angela Merkel said she would not have the Oxford jab – despite trying to persuade others to take it.
While she admitted there was an ‘acceptance problem’ in the bloc over that particular vaccine, the German Chancellor said she could not have it personally as she was too old at 66.
The EU has been desperately trying to convince citizens to get the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab, with many in both France and Germany refusing to take it.
And in a frightening indication of the Continent’s struggles to get people inoculated, a single man was pictured waiting for his vaccine at a huge medical cen
‘Reliable, effective and safe’
tre set up at Brussels airport. The photo emerged as Belgian authorities warned of ‘serious delays’ to the rollout of jabs, with appointments for over-65s now postponed until the end of March.
Flemish health minister Wouter Beke said smaller than expected deliveries of AstraZeneca and Moderna doses created a ‘gigantic problem’ for the programme. But take-up has been painfully slow in some countries, with German regulators only recommending the Oxford jab for the under-65s, while a host of EU figures – including France’s Emmanuel Macron – have questioned its effectiveness.
This is despite a raft of data proving that it does work well in preventing serious illness and hospitalisations among the elderly.
In an interview with a German newspaper yesterday, Chancellor Merkel said more than 5million vaccinations had been carried out in Germany and up to 9.5million a week are now being planned.
But when asked why only twothirds of doses delivered have been used, she replied: ‘Many doses of the BioNTech [Pfizer] vaccine are set aside for the second vaccination. In addition, there is currently an acceptance problem with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
‘AstraZeneca is a reliable vaccine, effective and safe, approved by the European Medical Agency and recommended in Germany up to the age of 65 years. All the authorities tell us that this vaccine can be trusted. As long as vaccines are as scarce as they are now, you can’t choose what to vaccinate with.’
Many Germans are reported to have missed their appointments to get the AstraZeneca jab and a poll suggested that half would rather wait for the Pfizer one instead.
In Berlin, surplus doses are even set to be given to homeless people because so many people failed to turn up for appointments.
Germany’s poor handling of the vaccine programme even led its biggest-selling newspaper Bild to declare on its front page this week: ‘Dear Brits, we envy you!’
But when asked why she didn’t lead by example and get vaccinated herself, Mrs Merkel replied: ‘I am 66 years old and I do not belong to the group recommended for AstraZeneca.’
Professor Thomas Mertens, chairman of Germany’s Standing Commission on Vaccination, told the BBC: ‘We have about 1.4million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in store and only about 240,000 have been given to the people.
‘We are working quite hard on this point [to] try to convince the people to accept the vaccine... but it will take a little bit of time.’
In France, the health ministry has admitted that the AstraZeneca vaccine has an ‘image problem’.
As a result, there has been ‘feeble’ take-up with only 107,000 first doses given in two weeks.
A publicity campaign is therefore being planned to persuade more people to get their jab.