France and Germany brace for ANOTHER lockdown as Merkel sits on 1.2 MILLION Oxford jabs people refuse to take
FRANCE and Germany are now both braced for further Covid lockdowns after they shunned the Oxford vaccine.
It comes as a German virologist today revealed the country was sitting on a whopping 1.2 million Oxford jabs - after EU leaders repeatedly made baseless allegations about its efficacy.
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Responding to Germany's reluctance to get the jab, Professor Thomas Mertens told BBC Radio 4 that there was a "problem" in rolling out the vaccine in Germany.
He said: "At the moment we have 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in-store and only about 240,000 doses have been given to the people, that is definitely a problem at the moment."
He added: "We are trying to convince people to accept that vaccine and build up the trust for the vaccine within the population.
"But as you may know, there is a psychological problem too and it will take some time to reach this goal."
It comes as:
- France follows Merkel in begging citizens to have Oxford vaccine
- Surge Covid testing in part of London after South African variant found
- Face masks and Covid tests are NOT compulsory in schools, gov says
Angela Merkel has said she will not take the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine because she is too old, despite begging residents to take the jab.
The German chancellor, 66, was asked if she would take the jab to set an example to a country where many are refusing to take the Oxford jab and 1.2million of the shots are lying unused in storage.
But Merkel told that she was not eligible because German regulators have restricted the jab to under-65s, a move which has yet to be reversed even after data from Scotland showed it is highly effective in the elderly.
Meanwhile, Merkel and the country’s state premiers have agreed to extend Covid restrictions until March 7 in a bid to stop a surge in cases.
Meanwhile, large swathes of older people across Europe have refused the Oxford jab after EU leaders repeatedly made baseless allegations about its efficacy.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the jab was "hardly effective in seniors" in a controversial article on January 25 - but the data used to back the claims was rubbished by Astrazeneca.
In the same week, French President Emmanuel Macron claimed the vaccine was "quasi-ineffective" for people over 65.
It comes despite a study finding that just one shot of the British-made Covid jab slashes older people’s risk of being taken to hospital by 94 per cent.
But with both governments under increasing pressure to replicate Britain's vaccination success, leaders have launched a fresh push to encourage over-65s to come forward to get the jab.
EU Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen, who was involved in a furious row with Astrazeneca over supplies, also said this week she would "take the AstraZeneca vaccine without a second thought".
Meanwhile, Germany's highest-selling newspaper Bild yesterday said the UK's 'successful' vaccine programme had allowed Boris Johnson to promise a brighter future to Brits while Germany is "stuck in lockdown".
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Boris Johnson on Monday unveiled his roadmap out of lockdown, with all legal restrictions set to be lifted on June 21 should cases continue to fall.
Citing Britain's vaccination success as a reason to be optimistic, Bild's front page headline read: "Dear Brits, we envy you!"