BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Germany reported 17,051 new COVID-19 cases within one day, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said Wednesday.
The COVID-19 incidence rate in the country in the past seven days declined slightly to 132.3 per 100,000 people, according to the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.
To date, Germany has recorded more than 2.8 million infections and 76,342 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the RKI.
Following a recommendation by the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), the German and federal state governments agreed on Tuesday that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should only be used for people over 60 years of age due to cases of cerebral vein thrombosis in connection with immunization.
As of Monday, 31 such cases had been reported in Germany following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Around 4.06 million people had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 4.9 percent, according to the RKI.
Four COVID-19 vaccines have been approved in the European Union to date: Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and, since March 11, the single-dose vaccine by Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to be available in Germany in limited quantities from mid-April onwards. Enditem
