Germany will allow AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to adults of all ages and aims to offer 12-18 year-olds a vaccine by the end of August as it seeks to speed up its rollout, Health Minister Jens Spahn has said.
The country's 16 regional health ministers have agreed with Mr Spahn to reverse a previous decision to restrict the AstraZeneca shot to people over 60.
He also said that the current 12-week gap between first and second doses of AstraZeneca vaccinations could be shortened. "Both these measures serve to further to accelerate our vaccination campaign overall," said Mr Spahn.
Initial supply shortages and bureaucratic hurdles meant Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, got off to a slow start with its inoculation