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Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), despite the delivery bottlenecks for the vaccines against the coronavirus, is maintaining the promise to be able to make a vaccination offer to every citizen by the end of the summer.

The "statement that we can make a vaccination offer to every citizen by the end of the third quarter" could "be maintained," said Merkel after the vaccination summit of the federal government, states and the pharmaceutical industry on Monday in Berlin.

This promise will apply even if the two pharmaceutical manufacturers Johnson & Johnson and Curevac, contrary to expectations, do not receive approval for the vaccines they have developed, said Merkel.

In this case, too, the 73 million adult people in this country could be offered a vaccination, the vaccines are not intended for children.

If other manufacturers join in, there will be a larger range.

In order to be able to plan the vaccinations better, the federal and state governments wanted to set up a "national vaccination plan", she announced.

The upcoming deliveries of vaccines should be listed there “to the best of our knowledge”.

The aim is "to give more security as to how the invitation management can take place for the people," said Merkel.

The federal government and the states now have “predictability”.

In the second quarter, Germany is to receive more vaccination doses - without guarantees

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One thing is clear: vaccine quantities will remain scarce in the first quarter.

"In the first quarter there is no longer any vaccine - that's for sure," said Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).

Only in the course of the year should the delivery quantities increase significantly.

This emerges from an overview by the Federal Ministry of Health, which was already disseminated in the run-up to the vaccination summit.

After 18.3 million vaccine doses in the current first quarter, according to a current estimate, 77.1 million doses could follow in the second quarter and 126.6 million doses from various manufacturers in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it could then be another 100.2 million cans.

Söder emphasized that the companies had made commitments for the quarters, but did not give any firm guarantees.

The estimate relates to contracts entered into and planned agreements, as well as expected approval dates for some vaccines.

As emphasized, specific dates and delivery quantities depend on numerous factors - especially clinical trials, approval procedures, production processes, supply chains for raw materials and quality controls.

Such forecasts are always fraught with uncertainty and changes are not unusual.

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In the last quarter of 2020, 1.3 million doses of the first approved vaccine from manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer were reportedly delivered.

Federal government: five million vaccinations per week feasible

The federal government also considers five million corona vaccinations per week to be possible at a later date.

“The limiting factor here is currently the availability of the vaccine,” says the Ministry of Health's paper for the vaccination summit, according to Reuters.



As soon as the 50,000 resident doctors can also vaccinate, "according to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), more than 5,000,000 vaccinations per week" can be carried out.

However, the change to the second phase of the national vaccination strategy only makes sense if there is a sufficient amount of vaccines that can be stored in medical practices and that are sufficient for at least three million vaccinations per week.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Michael Müller (SPD), Governing Mayor of Berlin, talk to Sierk Pötting, CFO of Biontech, by video at the vaccination summit in the Chancellery

Source: dpa / Steffen Kugler

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) welcomed the cooperation between the vaccine manufacturer CureVac and the pharmaceutical company Bayer before the vaccination summit.

Bayer wants to get involved in the production of the not yet approved vaccine from CureVac.

CureVac boss Franz-Werner Haas announced several hundred million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year on Monday.

So far, 600 million cans have been planned for 2022.

By expanding the existing production network, it would now be at least a billion.

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"We will need vaccines beyond the summer," emphasized Spahn at a digital press conference.

It is still unclear whether booster vaccinations are needed.

"Second, it can become possible through mutations that a vaccine also has to be adapted."

Spahn said he did not expect the vaccination sequence to be changed with AstraZeneca's approved vaccine.

The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) had only recommended the use of the vaccine for people aged 18 to 64 years.

There are also many people of this age in the first prioritization group of the vaccination ordinance with nurses, stressed Spahn.

With AstraZeneca's approved vaccine, these people received a vaccination offer faster.