Corona vaccinations: Spahn is looking at two ways to speed things up

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Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) is examining the possibility of extending the second vaccination planned for the corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer in order to be able to start vaccinating more people.

The Standing Vaccination Commission of the Robert Koch Institute should make a recommendation after reviewing the relevant data, according to a letter from the Ministry of Health available to the AFP news agency on Monday.

In the letter, which was initially reported by “Spiegel”, reference is made to the practice in Great Britain of extending the time interval between the first and second vaccination well beyond the maximum of 42 days specified in the approval.

"Such a decision that deviates from the approval requires in-depth scientific consideration and weighing," says the ministry's paper.

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In the letter, the department of Spahn again advocates the possibility of allowing doses for six instead of the initially planned five vaccinations due to the "overfilling" of the vials with the Biontech vaccine - provided the requirements are met.

Biontech aims to double its production capacity, the letter continues.

In particular, the purchase and preparation of a vaccine plant in Marburg will serve this purpose.

"The State of Hesse and the Paul Ehrlich Institute as the higher federal authority support and advise the company in the best possible way in order to enable a quick start of production in February 2021."

Approval of further vaccines is expected

Finally, Spahn's ministry refers to the expected approval of further vaccines.

The final statement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected on January 6th.

"In the first few weeks, at least 1.5 million doses of this vaccine can be expected. In total, Germany has secured 50 million vaccine doses from this manufacturer for 2021 through the European agreements alone." 

In addition, AstraZeneca's application for approval is being evaluated with high pressure at the EMA.

The aim is to make a timely decision on the further path and scope of approval.