Germany Recommends Vaccine Switch After AstraZeneca First Shot

Germany expects the Delta variant to take over as the dominant strain of the coronavirus in the country in the coming days.

Germany's vaccine committee on Thursday recommended that everyone who received an AstraZeneca first dose switch to BioNTech-Pfizer or Moderna jabs for better protection against the coronavirus, including against the Delta variant. Studies show that the immune response is "clearly superior" when an AstraZeneca shot is combined with a second mRNA vaccine, compared with double AstraZeneca jabs, said STIKO. The commission therefore recommended the mix "regardless of age" and with a minimum gap of four weeks between the two jabs. The vaccines developed by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna are based on the same novel messenger RNA technology, which trains the body to reproduce spike proteins, similar to that found on the coronavirus.