Too little vaccine may be available for the first quarter of 2022.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin According to the new Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, sufficient quantities of vaccine are missing for the further booster vaccination campaign at the beginning of next year. “We have a shortage of vaccines for the first quarter,” said the SPD politician to the ARD “Tagesthemen” on Tuesday evening. This surprised many when a vaccine inventory was carried out. “Me too,” said Lauterbach.
In his own words, the minister is already working to remedy the deficiency. “I hope that I can convey a positive message there in the next few days.” Efforts ran across all channels, including directly to the companies, but everything had to be EU-compliant. “We have to gain speed here.”
Lauterbach had previously warned the health ministers of a considerable shortage of vaccine doses for the booster campaign in the federal-state round. The “Spiegel” reported on this.
Accordingly, Lauterbach is said to have spoken of a “significant vaccine shortage in the coming year” at the conference with a view to the result of the vaccination inventory. The situation is “extremely difficult”.
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A sharp increase in Omikron cases is also expected for the coming year, against which the booster vaccination is particularly important. In addition, the job-related vaccination requirement should take effect from spring.
In the first two weeks of the new year, Germany would receive a total of only 1.2 million doses of the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer. Moderna, on the other hand, is supposed to deliver ten million cans per week. However, according to the “Spiegel” report, only around 3.6 million vaccine doses per week are available for the booster, since doses are also used for the first and second vaccination.
“The contract doctors now need clarity quickly”
Assuming that people who have been secondly vaccinated are vaccinated a third time after five months, 50 million people in Germany must have received a booster by the end of January. The number of booster vaccinations is currently 20 million.
“The contract doctors now need clarity quickly,” demanded the head of the Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance (ZI), Dominik Stillfried, to the Handelsblatt. “There are currently around 4.6 million vaccinations per week in the practices alone, with a total of around 6.4 million vaccination centers.”
This pace is also necessary to have the booster campaign completed by mid-February. “This is the only way to effectively counteract a fifth wave with Omikron.”
The head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, called the shortage of vaccines “a fatal signal to everyone who is currently fighting this pandemic with full commitment”.
It cannot be that the weekly vaccine delivery is a game of chance, in which the resident colleagues never know whether they will receive what they have ordered. “It can’t be true that too little vaccine was bought in the country where vaccines were developed.”
With agency material.
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