corona pandemic
77 million vaccine doses are in Germany on stockpile. Many are nearing their expiration date
In Germany, the expiry date of many corona vaccines in stock is approaching
© Marius Becker / DPA
The vaccination campaign against the corona virus in Germany is making little progress. You can also see that in the vaccine stocks in the country: 77 million doses of corona vaccine are in stock. 10 million doses will reach their expiration date by the end of June.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, Germany has 77 million doses of corona vaccine in stock. A spokesman for the ministry confirmed a report by “Welt am Sonntag” on Saturday, according to which this number of cans was in stock in the federal government’s central warehouse as of April 4th. According to this, the number of vaccine doses in the central federal warehouse has increased by another ten percent since March 21, when 70 million doses were stored there.
The number for March 21 comes from a government response to a request from the Union faction, which is available to the “WamS”. It was 27.4 million doses from the manufacturer Biontech, 40.2 million from Moderna, 1.3 million doses from Johnson & Johnson and 700,000 from Novavax.
Extended shelf life for corona vaccines
According to the ministry’s response to the question from the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, more than 10 million cans will reach their expiry date by the end of June, and 50 million in the third quarter. The answer is also available from the German Press Agency.
A total of around 172 million doses of corona vaccines have been vaccinated in Germany so far. Recently, however, the rate of vaccination had dropped sharply. According to the Federal Ministry of Health’s vaccination dashboard, only a few tens of thousands of doses per day were administered recently. At this rate, according to “WamS”, only about six million cans would be needed by the end of September. Last December, there were sometimes more than a million vaccinations a day.
The ministry said the shelf life for Biontech’s vaccine had already been extended from six to nine months. Moderna has also extended the shelf life for its vaccine from seven to nine months and has been asked to submit data for a further extension.
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Tino Sorge: Lauterbach on a “shopping frenzy”
The health policy spokesman for the Union faction, Tino Sorge (CDU), accused Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) in the “Welt am Sonntag” of a “shopping spree”: “The minister no longer knows any limits when it comes to vaccine orders. He orders whatever is there – the actual need and the costs no longer play any role for him.” In view of the tense budgetary situation, the minister will have to give an account of “what costs the federal budget incurred as a result of his unnecessary orders”.
As the ministry’s response shows, a total of 677 million vaccine doses were ordered for Germany between 2021 and 2023, more than half of them from Biontech/Pfizer – 375 million doses.