Reports of side effects - and concerns about efficacy - have led some people in Germany to snub AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, prompting officials to leap to the drug's defence.
The vaccine in question is "safe and effective," just like the other two approved for use in Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn said in Berlin. "Whoever waits [to get vaccinated] is risking getting seriously ill while also risking spreading the virus further," he added, urging nurses and doctors to take the vaccine when offered.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for people below age 65, unlike the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which have been given the green light for the very elderly as well.
Of the almost 740,000 AstraZeneca doses already delivered to Germany, just under 90,000 have been administered, according to the minister.
Usage data varies between the country's 16 states.
In Lower Saxony, only 8,806 of the 72,000 AstraZeneca doses sent to the north-western region have so far been used, the state health ministry in Hanover reported.
An unknown number of people in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia had cancelled or not shown up for their vaccination appointments, the local Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The local Siegener Zeitung newspaper reported cancellations at a vaccination centre in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, where patients had complained about symptoms such as tiredness, fever and joint pain.