Germany's vaccine committee, known as STIKO, on Tuesday recommended using AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine only for people aged 60 and over.
"After several consultations, STIKO, with the help of external experts, decided by a majority to recommend the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine only for persons aged 60 years and older on the basis of available data on the occurrence of rare but very severe thromboembolic side effects," it said.
"Regarding the question of administering the second vaccine dose to younger persons who have already received a first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, STIKO will issue a supplementary recommendation by the end of April," it added in a statement.
(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
