Germany receives millions of cans earlier.
(Photo: AP)
Brussels, Berlin The Federal Republic can expect 35 million additional vaccine doses in the next few months: According to the EU Commission, the US manufacturer Moderna has promised to deliver ten million doses in December, which were actually only planned for the first quarter of 2022.
In the first few months of the coming year, Moderna wants to deliver more than previously agreed. The company prefers a tranche of 25 million cans for the Federal Republic. The Federal Ministry of Health was involved in the talks, it is said in Brussels. There is a close and good cooperation.
The additional deliveries could be enough for up to 70 million booster vaccinations, since half of the normal dose can be used when boosting with Moderna. However, it is still unclear whether this procedure will continue. Studies are currently underway to determine whether a full dose is necessary for the third vaccination because of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. But “one way or the other”, the additional delivery “will help Germany”, says the commission.
In fact, the news should bring relief in Germany. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) warned of supply bottlenecks at the beginning of the week, many citizens are unsettled. A.Criticism came from the Union as well as from general practitioners. The minister wants to provide details of the vaccine supply in the federal press conference on Thursday afternoon.
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Lauterbach had stated that not enough vaccine would be available for the booster campaign in the first quarter of next year. The Biontech vaccine is currently in short supply.
Within the next three weeks, around 3.2 million cans of Biontech could be delivered in Germany, Lauterbach said on Wednesday evening on ZDF. “But that is much less than what the doctors call up every week.”
The available doses are already reserves. “We pour everything out here. Because the campaign has to go as well as it can. ”The new federal government wants to buy more than 90 million doses of Biontech vaccine for 2.2 billion euros. However, these quotas could probably only be delivered in the second quarter.
The EU is using an option to deliver 150 million cans. Germany wanted to take the “lion’s share” of this, said a top European official.
Moderna vaccine with acceptance problem
The federal government is now faced with the task of reducing the acceptance problem that the Moderna active ingredient encounters in Germany. The past few months have shown that many Germans prefer to be vaccinated with the preparation from Biontech / Pfizer.
The skepticism towards Moderna is a German peculiarity; according to the Commission, it does not exist in other EU countries. The rejection was “difficult to understand,” said the high-ranking representative of the Brussels authority. Studies have shown that Moderna’s vaccine works even better when boosting than that of Biontech and Pfizer. The Council of the Commission believes that this has to be “emphasized even more” in Germany.
The federal government also has the opportunity to negotiate with EU countries that have ordered more vaccines than they currently need. In countries like Bulgaria and Romania the vaccination rate is very low and the respective governments might be willing to sell some of their supplies. Discussions are already under way. On Wednesday, the Bundestag made 2.2 billion euros available for additional vaccine orders.
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