Germany prohibits AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for people under 65

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should only be for people aged between 18 and 64 years, Germany's main public health body Robert Koch Institute's Standing Vaccine Commission said in an update to its vaccine recommendation.

A statement by the independent commission on its vaccination policy said there was "insufficient data currently available to ascertain how effective the vaccination is above 65 years." The commission also recommended that the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine only be used for people aged 18 to 64 years.

The statement added that the two vaccines approved by the EU authorities, one developed by BioNTech-Pfizer and another by Moderna, were "equivalent in terms of safety and efficacy".

The European Medicines Agency is expected to give its long-awaited approval to AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.