Around a week after the announcement, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) has now published its detailed Covid-19 vaccination recommendation with changes with regard to cross-vaccinations.

The STIKO expects that the decision to recommend such a scheme for people over the age of 60 will be “well accepted”, according to the paper published on Thursday afternoon.

Last week, the panel surprisingly announced that, according to its assessment, those vaccinated for the first time with AstraZeneca should receive an mRNA vaccine as a second dose after at least four weeks. The background to this is the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, against which full vaccinations are particularly important. There had been criticism of the procedure from general practitioners because of the "enormous additional effort" that patients were unsettled.

In the 8th update of the Covid-19 vaccination recommendation, the STIKO writes that, according to studies, the immune response is significantly stronger after cross-vaccination than after two doses of AstraZeneca. A higher and longer lasting effectiveness is to be expected. There is also the time factor: with cross-vaccination, optimal protection can be achieved much faster for people over the age of 60. Two doses of AstraZeneca were originally intended to be given up to 12 weeks apart. The shorter interval can be associated with somewhat stronger vaccination reactions after the second dose, according to the STIKO with a view to studies.

Experts speak of a heterologous vaccination schedule.

The STIKO had previously only advised younger people who had already received an initial vaccination with AstraZeneca before this vaccine was only recommended for those aged 60 and over who would like to be vaccinated.

STIKO sees particular relevance in its recommendation for people who have just been vaccinated with AstraZeneca or whose first vaccination is still imminent.

Anyone who has their second appointment for an AstraZeneca vaccination shortly can "definitely accept" it, it said.

Two AstraZeneca vaccinations with an interval of nine to twelve weeks protect "also very well against severe infections with the Delta variant".

A reverse sequence for cross-vaccination - first mRNA, then vector vaccine - is "absolutely to be avoided", explains the STIKO and refers to a lesser property of triggering an immune response.

The STIKO now recommended the following intervals between the two required vaccine doses: three to six weeks at BioNtech / Pfizer, four to six weeks at Moderna, nine to twelve weeks at AstraZeneca (if someone else should be vaccinated twice with it) and "from four weeks ”for the combination of AstraZeneca and mRNA vaccine.