Fight against Corona
Lauterbach confirms: EU wants to deliver 35 million additional Moderna vaccine doses to Germany
Germany is slated to receive ten million additional doses of the vaccine from Moderna this month
© Frank Hoermann / Sven Simon / Picture Alliance
Germany is to receive an early delivery of 35 million doses of the vaccine from Moderna, as confirmed by Minister of Health Lauterbach. He had previously warned of a serious vaccine shortage.
The EU Commission wants to deliver 35 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine to Germany earlier. According to this, ten million doses of the preparation “Spikevax” should reach the country this month. An early delivery requires the approval of the EU, which he received on Thursday afternoon, said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) to journalists on Thursday in Berlin. He is also negotiating with Romania, Bulgaria and Portugal to buy Biontech vaccines. He hopes that he will be able to report on the execution here soon. Lauterbach had previously warned of a serious shortage of vaccines.
According to laboratory tests: Moderna produces a weaker immune response against Omikron
In addition to the ten million cans in December, according to EU circles, another 25 million cans could be delivered in the first quarter of 2022. From the total of 35 million doses, up to 70 million doses could be drawn for booster vaccinations, as only half a dose is used for this at Moderna.
According to laboratory data, a double corona vaccination with the US manufacturer’s vaccine ensures a weaker defense reaction of the body against the new omicron variant. “That could lead to an increased risk of Covid disease,” write US researchers – including employees of the National Health Institutes (NIH) and Moderna – in a study that was published as a preprint, not in a peer-reviewed journal.
The vaccine manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer had already announced last week that three doses of their product were necessary for adequate protection against the Omikron variant. According to initial laboratory data, two doses did not provide sufficient protection against infection with the recently discovered variant. However, the companies assumed that protection against serious illness would continue to exist.
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Germany wants to buy 80 million additional Biontech cans
The federal government had already announced on Wednesday that it wanted to buy an additional 80 million doses of the preparation from Biontech through EU contracts. The budget committee of the Bundestag had approved around 2.2 billion euros for this and for 12 million other cans that are to be procured directly.
According to information from “Spiegel”, the EU member states are on the verge of re-ordering 150 million more doses of the “Comirnaty” vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. To this end, the states would want to take an option from a supply contract from May 2021. The contract stipulates the delivery of 1.8 billion cans through 2023. So far, EU countries have bought 900 million of them.
sources: “mirror“; DPA; AFP