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Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The heads of five of the six university clinics in North Rhine-Westphalia speak out in a joint letter to the federal and state health ministers for the temporary stop of vaccinations of younger women with the active ingredient of Astrazeneca.
The risk of further deaths is too high, according to the letter that is available to the German press agency.
In the two-page letter signed by the medical directors of the five clinics, reference is made to the previously known suspected cases of thrombosis following Astrazeneca vaccinations.
The experts then contrast the deaths from Covid-19 in 20 to 29-year-old women with the potential life-threatening vaccination complications in the same age group.
"In summary, it must be stated that, based on the example of the group of 20 to 29-year-old women, according to the current state of knowledge, there is an extremely unfavorable risk / benefit profile for the use of the Astrazeneca vaccine," said the university hospital bosses in their letter.
"In the light of these considerations, the use of the Astrazeneca vaccine in younger women does not seem justified at the moment," the experts write.
There is therefore an "urgent need" to derive a new vaccination recommendation.
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According to dpa information, the university clinics want to submit a corresponding recommendation to the state health ministry by the afternoon.
The University Clinic in Cologne, meanwhile, recommends its female employees under 55 in the vaccination consultation, "mostly no vaccination with the Astrazeneca vaccine," according to a spokesman.
He confirmed a report in the "Bild" newspaper.
"We do not withhold the vaccine from anyone who expressly wants it even after being informed," added the spokesman.
"Overall, we are both ethically and legally obliged, as with any other medical measure, to provide information to the best of our knowledge and belief and to make an individual vaccination recommendation."
According to the Euskirchen district, a 47-year-old woman had previously suffered a sinus vein thrombosis a few days after the vaccination and died.
According to the district, a 28-year-old woman had such a thrombosis after the vaccination.
She is therefore "in a stable condition and is being cared for in a special clinic".
The district confirmed on Tuesday that the 28-year-old lives in Bonn, but works in the district and was vaccinated there.
The district then stopped vaccinating women under 55 years of age with the Astrazeneca vaccine on Monday.
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Germany - and numerous other countries - had temporarily suspended vaccination with the Astrazeneca substance in March because several cases of thrombosis (blood clots) in the cerebral veins were reported in relation to the vaccination.
The vaccine is now being given again.
The European Medicines Agency Ema had confirmed the safety of the vaccine, and the Standing Vaccination Commission in Germany had spoken out in favor of further use of the product.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210330-99-27078 / 3