Angela Merkel receives Moderna as second jab after AstraZeneca shot
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has received a dose of Moderna as her second shot of coronavirus vaccine having had Oxford-AstraZeneca as her first, a government spokesman said.
The 66-year-old leader was vaccinated a few days ago after getting a dose of AstraZeneca in April.
Experts believe mixed dosing of Covid vaccines could be a good idea but it too early to say for sure.
Mrs. Merkel will be stepping down as leader this year after 16 years.
In March, Germany, along with other European countries, halted the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a number of blood clots cases were reported.
Germany had previously restricted the use of the jab to over-60s but is now set to offer it to all adults, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports.
After a slow start, Germany’s vaccination rollout accelerated in recent weeks.
More than half of the country’s population has now received their first dose of a vaccine.
In April, Mrs. Merkel’s spokesman tweeted a photo of her vaccination certificate to show she had received the injection.
Kanzlerin #Merkel: „Ich freue mich, dass ich heute die Erstimpfung mit AstraZeneca bekommen habe. Ich danke allen, die sich in der Impfkampagne engagieren – und allen, die sich impfen lassen. Das Impfen ist der Schlüssel, um die Pandemie zu überwinden.“ pic.twitter.com/P4kMJYNrlc
— Steffen Seibert (@RegSprecher) April 16, 2021