Status: 05/18/2022 3:46 p.m
The federal government wants to make a fourth corona vaccination possible for all interested citizens by autumn. According to Health Minister Lauterbach, a large number of new vaccines are being ordered, which are still being developed.
According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, the federal government is preparing for the corona pandemic in autumn with further vaccines. Two new vaccines are planned for this purpose – one for the Omicron variants, a vaccine that the company BioNTech is currently developing.
In addition, the federal cabinet today agreed on a bivalent vaccine that targets both the omicron and the original Wuhan variants and is to be supplied by the Moderna company. A further 830 million euros would be made available in the budget for this purpose. The SPD politician announced this at a press conference.
Health Minister Lauterbach presents the Corona strategy for the fall
tagesschau24 2 p.m., 18.5.2022
Second booster as a single dose
The Wuhan vaccines that have already been vaccinated and that cover the Delta variant are sufficiently available. According to the Minister of Health, the second booster is intended as a single dose.
Lauterbach emphasized again that the pandemic is not over yet. The country must be prepared for all eventualities. Even if the omicron variant now dominates in many places, Delta is still represented. So you don’t know what you’ll be confronted with in the fall.
Lauterbach said that a general recommendation by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) for a second booster would be desirable – but there was still no data for people up to the age of 70. STIKO advises those over 70 to have a second booster vaccination.
Vaccination centers will continue
The Minister of Health emphasized that in general everyone who wants or needs a second booster should be able to be cared for. In order to make this possible, the vaccination centers would also continue – the federal government provides 100 million euros per month for this.
Lauterbach admitted that there is currently a “surplus” of vaccine doses in Germany – and that the planned ordering of further vaccines should mean that older vaccines expire. But this was “founded in the matter,” he said. “We can’t yet predict which variants we’ll have to wrestle with in the fall.” That is why the government must prepare for all eventualities by ordering vaccines.
Fewer deaths too
According to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the rate of infection in Germany is currently declining. In the morning, the RKI gave the seven-day incidence as 407.4. The value was 437.6 the day before, 507.1 a week earlier and 808.8 a month earlier.
German health authorities reported 72,051 new infections to the RKI within one day, after 97,010 a week earlier. 174 deaths were registered. The number was 231 a week earlier.
However, these figures do not provide a complete picture. Not all infected people have a PCR test done, but only these count in the statistics. In addition, late registrations or transmission difficulties can lead to a distortion of individual daily values. For this reason and because the health authorities are overburdened, experts assume that there will be a large number of cases that are not recorded by the RKI.