Germany Makes Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Available to All Adults
Voice of America
German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced Monday the country was making the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine available to all adults, lifting a prioritization that limited the shot only to those 60 and older.
Like the AstraZeneca vaccine before it, Germany had limited the use of the Johnson & Johnson shot after several cases of blood clots were reported among younger recipients of the vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has said blood clots should be listed as a rare side effect of both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca shots but that the benefits continue to outweigh risks. The EMA left it up to individual European nations as to how they would administer the shots. Spahn told reporters in Berlin they expected deliver of about 10 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in June and July, by which time he expects most Germans 60 and older will have been vaccinated. The nation lifted a similar restriction on the AstraZeneca vaccine last week.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.