A careful glimpse at my Twitter feed leads me to the conclusion that there might be a few questions out there by non-German speakers regarding today's @handelsblatt story on the #AstraZeneca #vaccine.

Please let me summarize the content for those who have already commented or might feel the urge to comment in 280 characters, maybe some without having read the full 1200 word article (no hard feelings, German is no fun language to learn)

1/ The story reflects the assessment inside the German government and advisory bodies of available data for the AstraZeneca vaccine in view of the upcoming EMA decision.

2/ We have learned that the German government is considering changes to its vaccination plan due to the possibly insufficient efficacy AZ for elderly risk groups (65+) which German officials estimate at 8 %. Among younger groups, a much higher efficacy of around 70 % is expected.

3/The story further states that AstraZeneca has so far provided limited data for participants aged 65 and older, hence providing an incomplete picture of vaccine efficacy in this age group. According to our sources, the preliminary data is not viewed as very encouraging.

4/ Our sources also question the study design and an apparent lack of older participants in the clinical trials. They also point to a rocky rolling review process which had EMA requesting additional data from AZ.

5/ We have confirmed the story with multiple sources familiar with the German vaccination policy. Our sources, including members of government coalition and experts, spoke on condition of anonymity so we cannot source the story “on the record” nor make public any underlying data.

6/The assessment inside the German government takes into account the data relevant to the EMA decision which is NOT the same data the UK regulator MHRA published when granting emergency use approval on Dec 30.

7/I understand that some would like to see the story substantiated with actual data. However, this is not an academic preprint but a sourced piece of (political) reporting that tries to shed light on the decision making processes and the obstacles in the race for a Covid vaccine.