Berlin, Apr 17 (IANS): German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she had received her first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

"I am delighted to have received my first vaccination with AstraZeneca today. I thank everyone involved in the vaccination campaign,and everyone who gets vaccinated. Vaccination is the key to overcoming the pandemic," Merkel was quoted as saying in a statement on Friday.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is now only recommended for people aged over 60 in Germany, reports Xinhua news agency.

Its use for younger people remained optional at doctors' discretion for people without an increased risk of blood clots.

The Chancellor is 66 years old and thus falls into the group of those eligible for AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany.

Over three and a half months after the start of the vaccination program in Germany, more than 5.3 million people had been fully inoculated as of Thursday, bringing the immunisation rate to 6.4 per cent, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.

As of Thursday, a total of 20,744,105 doses had been administered in Germany as the country recently stepped up its vaccination campaign.

Starting from last week, vaccine shots are not only administered at national vaccination centres and by mobile teams, but also available at general practitioners.