Union criticizes purchasing practice
The federal government stores 77 million doses of corona vaccine – criticism of Lauterbach
Criticized by the Union and a large part of the population: Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach
© Bernd von Jutrczenka / DPA
After the failure of compulsory vaccination and the back and forth about the obligation to isolate people infected with corona, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) lost a lot of popularity among the population. Criticism also comes from the Union. The reason is 77 million stored doses of corona vaccine whose expiry date is approaching.
The federal government currently has around 77 million doses of corona vaccine in stock, some of which are about to reach their expiry date. This scope of the camp existed on April 4th, as the Federal Ministry of Health announced on Sunday on request. On March 21, the number was 70 million doses, according to the “Welt am Sonntag” in a government response to a Union request. The Union criticized the purchases.
According to the information, the 70 million include 27.4 million doses from the manufacturer Biontech, 40.2 million from the company Moderna, 1.3 million doses from Johnson & Johnson and 700,000 from Novavax. However, demand has fallen sharply: currently, an average of 34,000 doses are administered daily.
Tino Sorge criticizes Karl Lauterbach
According to the government response, at least 11 million cans of stored cans will reach their expiry date by the end of June, and another 57 million in the third quarter.
The Union health expert Tino Sorge therefore criticized Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) in the newspaper. “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,” said Sorge. Lauterbach is “on a shopping spree”. Concern demanded information about the costs incurred by the federal government.
According to its own statements, the Federal Ministry of Health is committed to extending the shelf life of the vaccines that have already been delivered, insofar as the available stability data from the pharmaceutical companies justify this. The shelf life of the vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer has already been extended from six to nine months, and a further extension is planned. The company Moderna has also extended the shelf life of its vaccine from seven to nine months. The company has already been asked to submit data for a further extension.
55 percent of Germans disappointed by Lauterbach
In principle, Covid-19 vaccines procured by the federal government for the national vaccination campaign would be made available to service providers according to need and demand, the ministry said. In addition, opportunities to donate vaccines are being reviewed on an ongoing basis.
But criticism of Lauterbach does not only come from the Union. According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute Insa on behalf of “Bild am Sonntag”, the majority of the German population is also dissatisfied with Lauterbach’s work – a total of 55 percent. Only 36 percent are satisfied.
When the traffic light government took office in December, 53 percent still expected Lauterbach to be a good minister. 26 percent thought he would do his ministerial job badly.
According to the Insa survey, 47 percent of those surveyed think that the Bundestag’s rejection of compulsory vaccination from the age of 60 is correct, 46 percent think the decision is wrong. Insa asked 1003 people for the survey on Friday.
A draft law for compulsory corona vaccination from the age of 60, which Lauterbach had also supported, failed in the Bundestag on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Minister of Health moved away from the plan to only give corona infected people a recommendation for domestic isolation in the future. This means that there is still an obligation to isolate.