Germany is already ordering vaccines for 2022, minister says

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is ordering vaccines for 2022 in case regular or booster doses are needed to keep the population immune against variants of COVID-19, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Saturday, amid growing frustration in Europe at the slow pace of vaccination.

Speaking at an online town hall of healthcare workers, Spahn defended the progress made on procuring and administering vaccines, saying 2.3 million of Germany’s 83 million people had already received a dose.

European governments have faced criticism over supply and production bottlenecks as vaccine makers AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna have all announced cuts to delivery volumes just as they were expected to ramp up production.

Germany – Europe’s largest economy – has been crippled by a second lockdown introduced in November, and many in the general public are looking enviously at the faster pace of vaccination in Britain, Israel and the United States.

“We are now actually ordering further vaccines for 2022, to have at least some on hand,” Spahn said. “Nobody knows if we’ll need a booster… With production capacities now being extended, we’ll order vaccines as a precaution. If we don’t need them, good, but if we do then they’ll be available.”

Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Clelia Oziel

A certificate stating the vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine next to an International Certificate of Vaccination pictured in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, 20 January 2021 (issued 21 January 2021). EPA-EFE/BEN WENZ