Berlin The acting Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) has denied allegations to withhold vaccine from Biontech-Pfizer from citizens for booster vaccinations. “We’re not holding anything back,” said Spahn on Monday in Berlin. But the demand for Biontech has risen sharply and cannot be served in the near future.
Spahn said the approaching expiration date is an important aspect, but not the crucial one. Today and tomorrow, six million doses of the Biontech vaccine went from the warehouses to the supply. But next week you won’t be able to provide more than two to three million Biontech cans.
He felt and understood the anger of the doctors who had promised their patients a Biontech vaccination, said Spahn. But Moderna’s vaccine is also “a good, safe and very effective vaccine”, of which 16 million doses are immediately available.
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By the end of the year, 24 million doses of Biontech and 26 million doses of Moderna would be made available – a total of around 50 million doses with just under 30 million booster vaccinations that they want to achieve by the end of the year. “There is enough vaccine for all upcoming vaccinations and both vaccines are working,” said the minister.
According to Minister Spahn, the Biontech vaccine for five to eleven year olds is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (Ema) at the end of this week. The vaccine will then be delivered in the European Union around December 20.
According to the CDU politician, Germany receives 2.4 million cans. “That should initially cover most of the demand,” said Spahn. In this country there are 4.5 million children in this age group. There will be further deliveries in early 2022.
Spahn again strongly promoted vaccination: “Probably pretty much everyone in Germany will have been ‘vaccinated, recovered or died’ at the end of this winter, something that was sometimes cynically called ‘vaccinated, recovered or died’. But that’s actually how it is. “
Spahn does not believe in a general compulsory vaccination
The President of the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Klaus Cichutek, emphasized in the joint press conference with Spahn that one is sitting “in Germany in a land of milk and honey”. Both mRNA vaccines are highly effective and safe and approved for booster vaccinations. He therefore considers it an “inappropriate discussion” to argue now about why Moderna cannot be replaced by Biontech.
The head of the research group for infection immunology and vaccine research at the Berlin Charité, Leif Erik Sander, also emphasized that two good vaccines are available: “We absolutely have to accept this gift.” Citizens could “take what is there with peace of mind “. Sander said the steep rise in incidence and the dramatic situation in the clinics were due to the low vaccination rate.
The immunologist advertised booster vaccinations, which significantly strengthened immune memory and ensured longer-lasting protection than the two-time vaccination. Sander emphasized that at the moment it was not yet possible to conclusively say whether the citizens would then be permanently protected with the third vaccination. At this point in time, he does not want to rule out an “occasional boost”.
The acting Federal Minister of Health expressed himself skeptical about the debate about the introduction of a general compulsory vaccination. The traffic light groups and the federal-state group decided to introduce a facility-related vaccination requirement for daycare centers or nursing homes, for example. And of course his ministry will work out a corresponding bill, said Spahn.
The German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (Divi) again pointed out the tense situation in the hospitals on Monday: “The corona situation is worrying and currently not under control,” said Divi President Gernot Marx.
In the past week alone, almost 1900 Covid patients were newly admitted to the intensive care units. A total of 3675 Covid patients are currently being treated in intensive care and 51 percent of them are invasively ventilated. The fourth wave hits Germany at a time when the hospitals are already well filled – and with reduced capacities.
Spahn: “Vaccinated, recovered or died – that’s how it is”
In total, there are 4,000 fewer intensive care beds in Germany than at the beginning of the pandemic, which is mainly due to the lack of staff. In the regions and federal states with particularly high numbers of infections, there are “acute overload situations,” emphasized Marx. He appealed to the traffic light groups and the heads of government from the federal and state levels to take additional measures at the next prime ministerial conference on December 9, if the measures decided last week were not enough to break the wave.
Transfer of intensive care patients to particularly affected regions
The situation in the intensive care units is very different across Germany, but it is most dramatic where the vaccination rates are low, explained the scientific directors of the Divi intensive care registry, Christian Karagiannidis and Steffen Weber-Carstens. In Berlin, 18 percent of patients in intensive care units are sick with Covid, in Bavaria more than 30 percent.
In Berlin there are 1051 intensive care beds, for which the necessary staff are available, of which only 89 are free, said Weber-Carstens. The situation is “definitely tense and tight”. A transfer of intensive care patients to other cities or federal states will be “relevant within the next few days and weeks,” added Karagiannidis.
The previous maximum number of intensive care beds occupied by adult Covid patients was reached on January 3 of this year at 5745. According to model calculations by Divi expert Andreas Schuppert, this value could be exceeded – despite the progress made in vaccination since then – if the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants reaches 600 within a week and the fourth wave only breaks afterwards. On Monday, the so-called seven-day incidence, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), was 386.5.
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