London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

German expert panel says under-60s who got first AstraZeneca shot should receive DIFFERENT vaccine for second jab

German expert panel says under-60s who got first AstraZeneca shot should receive DIFFERENT vaccine for second jab

A German expert panel has recommended those who received one AstraZeneca jab should take another vaccine as their second dose, since the British jab’s side effects could be more dangerous than taking two different products.

All Germans under 60 “should be given a dose of an mRNA vaccine 12 weeks after the first vaccination instead of the second AstraZeneca … dose,” the German Government’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) said in its latest draft recommendation published on Thursday. The jabs produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were mentioned as possible substitutes.

“So far, no data are available on the risk of the second vaccination [with AstraZeneca],” the expert panel admits, adding that “scientific evidence” on safety and effectiveness of vaccination with two different jabs is also lacking. Still, STIKO recommended the second option for that age group.

AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevria jab can only be given to those under 60 “at the discretion of the doctor” and after a patient accepts all potential risks, the panel concluded.

The rather unorthodox advice, which implies that millions of people might potentially be forced to rely on a yet-untested vaccination strategy, comes amid serious concerns related to the British-Swedish vaccine’s potential serious side effects.

“At the moment, one can only speculate about the risk of having been vaccinated twice,” Thomas Mertens, the head of STIKO, told Der Spiegel on Thursday referring to the Vaxzevria jab.

"The obvious way out is not to try it at all but to give an mRNA vaccine as an alternative to be on the safe side."


A virologist and the former medical director of the Ulm University Hospital, Mertens also said that the results of animal experiments available so far “show that the immune response is the same” after vaccination with two different shots.

He admitted, though, that the researchers still “have to scientifically clarify” whether the protection would be just as good in humans. He also said that “there will be data on this soon.”

STIKO had announced on Tuesday that Vaxzevria can only be given to over-60s. The decision came after Germany's vaccine regulator, the Paul Ehrlich Institute, disclosed that as of March 29, the country has recorded 31 cases of cerebral sinus vein thrombosis (CSVT), nine of which resulted in death, after people took the Vaxzevria shots. CSVT is a rare form of blood clot that forms in the brain.

Mertens called the regulator’s report a “very clear signal” which STIKO had to react to. The report also suggested that people under 60 appear more likely to be affected by this particular side effect. He also cited the data provided by Norway that suggested the jab provoked CSVT “at a ratio of 1 to 25,000 vaccinations.”

Some 2.8 million Germans already received their first Vaxzevria shot. Only around 2,000 people took the second shot too, according to German media. According to official figures, women under the age of 70 make up two-thirds of those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca drug. Some reports attribute this statistic to a fact that nurses were one of the primary groups to get it.

Earlier, dozens of nations in Europe and beyond temporarily halted the use of the vaccine following the reports of fatal blood clotting. Both the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the World Health Organization have both said that they consider Vaxzevria safe to use, however, with benefits outweighing the risks of rare side-effects.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×