This Eu vaccine row

[bigjoe]

Then again, they could not!
They haven't said it is unsafe they are only questioning the level of efficacy, so in a few months time when their over 65s are dying for lavck of any vaccine at all lets see what their people think.
But of course if it really concerns you just make sure none of your family over 65 gets the vaccine in question.

And why would we not be able to get the other vaccines?

(just in case somebody else is interested in bringing this back to the vaccination issue) - Yes, the Germans are saying its efficacy is unproven for over 65s. This is because most testing was done on younger people, partly due to the hope that they'd be more resilient to any possible vaccine side-effects. There isn't much data for over 65s as they were deliberately not targeted in the trials. However, there is no evidence to say that the efficacy is very much different in the over 65s. It would not be surprising if it'd be lower as older people (ahem , me) typically do not produce as many antibodies as a younger person after vaccination.
AZ claim that their limited results suggest that the vaccine is effective for over 65s (they do not claim any more as I guess that the sample size is probably too small to be statistically significant).
However, you could see who was being hospitalised due to COVID. Those people were used to determine which parts of the population were most vulnerable and most likely to take up beds. This was at least partly how it was decided who should be vaccinated during the first round(s) of vaccination (I don't know how these hospital figures have changed with the new variants).

As there's nothing to suggest that it doesn't work for over 65's, it does seem like a bit of a political call. If they do want to stop it, logically, they should now target the most vulnerable groups under 65.

[the other bob wilson]

(just in case somebody else is interested in bringing this back to the vaccination issue) - Yes, the Germans are saying its efficacy is unproven for over 65s. This is because most testing was done on younger people, partly due to the hope that they'd be more resilient to any possible vaccine side-effects. There isn't much data for over 65s as they were deliberately not targeted in the trials. However, there is no evidence to say that the efficacy is very much different in the over 65s. It would not be surprising if it'd be lower as older people (ahem , me) typically do not produce as many antibodies as a younger person after vaccination.
AZ claim that their limited results suggest that the vaccine is effective for over 65s (they do not claim any more as I guess that the sample size is probably too small to be statistically significant).
However, you could see who was being hospitalised due to COVID. Those people were used to determine which parts of the population were most vulnerable and most likely to take up beds. This was at least partly how it was decided who should be vaccinated during the first round(s) of vaccination (I don't know how these hospital figures have changed with the new variants).

As there's nothing to suggest that it doesn't work for over 65's, it does seem like a bit of a political call. If they do want to stop it, logically, they should now target the most vulnerable groups under 65.

Good post, but I’m afraid I have to bring politics into it again with regard to the use of the word “libertarian” because it seems to me that it is at the heart of the different emphasis’ that we’re getting from the UK and Germany regarding the AZ vaccine. I’m no expert, but it looks like the UK Government, with its libertarian instincts at PM and Cabinet levels, has, for want of better term, been prepared to allow and encouraged the licensing authorities to take a bit of a punt on the vaccines efficacy in over 65s whereas the Germans are being more cautious.

Different conclusions are being drawn from the same information and, for myself as someone who is sixty five a week today, I’m pretty content to accept that if the data says that the vaccine is generally effective against under 65s, then it’s hardly as if it’s going to be a waste of time for those older than that.

However, let’s face it, the UK Government’s instincts have generally been a bit of a disaster when it comes to the virus haven’t they. Libertarianism can be a good thing in many cases, but the figures for countries such as the USA, Brazil, Sweden and the UK suggest that a pandemic is not a situation where regulation should be eased, so there is a nagging suspicion that the UK Government’s laissez faire attitude could again be costing the country dear - in this case when it comes to AZ vaccine and over sixty fives.