The federal and state health ministers want to accelerate the so-called boosting, the booster vaccinations against Covid-19.

And that, although the Standing Vaccination Commission STIKO has not yet made any recommendations.

According to the will of the politicians, not only the very old, those in need of care and people with weakened immune defenses should receive another injection from September, but generally all those who were given the vaccines from the manufacturers AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson in the first round.

MRNA preparations are provided for all refreshments.  

Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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In the resolution proposal for today's ministerial conference, it is said that from next month onwards, “all citizens who have already been completely vaccinated and who have received the first vaccination with a vector vaccine from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson will receive a further vaccination with the mRNA vaccine in the interests of preventive health care offered by BioNTech / Pfizer. “This could be done in the vaccination centers of the federal states, by resident doctors or by company doctors. 

The STIKO is still weighing up

On Friday the STIKO announced that it was dealing with the issue of booster vaccinations.

However, she does not yet have the necessary data to make a recommendation for Germany - as in Israel.

The expert committee is not yet sure whether the measurable immune response in the laboratory is actually decreasing and whether infections and diseases will occur later despite the vaccination.

On the other hand, the resolution proposal by the health ministers said that initial study results indicated that in certain groups there could be an increased or rapidly declining immune response after a full Covid-19 vaccination: "This applies in particular to the group of relevant immunocompromised patients Patients as well as the very elderly and those in need of care. "

That is why the federal states want to start vaccinating these groups for the third time in four weeks with mobile teams, for example in facilities for care or integration assistance.

Immunocompromised patients as well as the elderly and frail people who live at home would be offered the refreshments by the treating doctors.  

Do the approvals also apply to “boosting”?

"Previous study data show that these groups in particular benefit from a booster vaccination," says the federal government's proposed resolution for the conference.

The vaccine used so far is irrelevant, but the “boosting” is limited to mRNA vaccines.

It is noteworthy that the ministers foresee the vaccine from BionTech for the vulnerable groups as well as those from Moderna.

However, only BionTech is intended for people outside the risk groups who have previously received a vector preparation.  

It was also unclear for a long time whether the current approvals for vaccines from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also apply to “boosting”.

The ministers also want to create facts here.

The paper says: "The vaccine will also be used for a booster vaccination within the framework of the existing approval." 

The company BioNtech / Pfizer had announced at the beginning of June that, according to the latest findings, the protective effect of the vaccine would probably wear off after six months. In Germany, the first vaccinations were given to old and vulnerable people on December 27th, seven months ago; the second vaccinations and full protection followed weeks later. The pharmaceutical company believes it is likely "that a third dose will be required within six to twelve months of the full vaccination." 

The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, called for “outreach vaccination offers in the 12,000 nursing homes in Germany”. The offer of refreshments could be made more difficult by the fact that the vaccination centers of the federal states might be closed in September, said Brysch of the German press agency.