Germany, AstraZeneca Deny Report of Vaccine’s Lower Efficacy in Elderly

The German health ministry and AstraZeneca Plc denied a newspaper report on the efficacy of the U.K. drugmaker’s Covid shot that further inflamed tensions over vaccine supplies between the company and the European Union.

Business publication Handelsblatt, citing unidentified sources in Germany’s ruling coalition, said late Monday that AstraZeneca’s vaccine is only effective for 8% of people older than 65. If true, that would have been a massive blow for immunization campaigns across the world, given that older people are most vulnerable to the pandemic.