Lauterbach to reopen vaccination centers

To push for booster vaccinations against the coronavirus, acting German Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) is urging a federal-state meeting. "Current data from Israel show that boosting makes a very crucial difference in breaking the fourth wave," Spahn told Bild am Sonntag. "Currently, however, the booster pace in Germany's practices is not enough." A summit of the federal and state governments is needed, he said.

The number of vaccinated is still rising only slowly. A booster vaccination after six months against the effect of the vaccine, which wears off over time, is taken up by far fewer people than could. Above all, it is recommended that high-risk groups receive a booster vaccination. Politicians are desperately seeking ways to encourage more people to do so. The Conference of Health Ministers will meet in Lindau next Thursday.

Spahn had repeatedly promoted booster vaccinations in recent days. In his opinion, the states should invite people over 60 years, for which this is recommended, in writing. The Ministry stressed on Saturday, however, also that in principle all citizens are entitled to such a vaccination. It referred to the vaccination regulation.

The World Health Organization has criticized booster vaccinations in rich countries for months, while many poorer countries are still waiting for vaccine doses. Vaccine doses could save the most lives, experts say, if they benefited people who are at significant risk of serious illness and are still unvaccinated.

SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach spoke out in favor of reopening vaccination centers. There are "realistically" not many options "with great effect" at the moment, Lauterbach wrote on Twitter in light of rising Corona case numbers. One of two options is "a much faster booster vaccination," he emphasized, referring to booster vaccinations. "For that, you would have to open the vaccination centers again. "As another option, Lauterbach mentioned "consistently applying 2G" - that is, only allowing vaccinated or recovered people into events or indoor restaurants. "This greatly reduces the number of cases," the SPD health politician emphasized.

Currently, new corona infections are rising sharply again. Increasingly louder are therefore expressed concerns about renewed emergencies in clinics.Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) backed the G20's plan to vaccinate 40 percent of the world's population against the coronavirus by the end of the year and 70 percent by the middle of next year. "I support that," she said Saturday after consultations with other leaders of the world's leading industrialized and emerging economies in the Italian capital, Rome. Germany plans to pass on 100 million vaccine doses this year and another 75 million next year, she said.

According to Merkel, the G-20 countries want to create a financing mechanism to prepare for possible future pandemics. The aim, she said, is to lay the groundwork to be better equipped in the event of future pandemic outbreaks. There will also be a "financial facility" for this purpose, she said. It could be used to strengthen the World Health Organization (WHO).