Germans say ‘Nein Danke’ to Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine

The head of STIKO, Thomas Mertens, conceded on BBC's Radio 4 Today program Thursday morning that in terms of slow take-up, his panel's assessment 'may be part of the problem.' '[Even though] we always stated that [our assessment] had nothing to do with the safety of the vaccine ... we never criticized the vaccine to be unsafe,' he added. Mertens noted that there are now 1.4 million doses of the vaccine in Germany, while only about 240,000 have been administered. 'We are working quite hard … to try and convince people to accept the vaccine and really to build ... trust in the vaccine among the population,' he said. The government is also rushing to regain this trust, assuring citizens that the vaccine provides reliable protection from severe and lethal cases of COVID-19. 'The vaccine ... is safe and highly effective,' tweeted government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday. 'It prevents many infections and protects against serious illnesses. Vaccination can save lives.'