Published 01:26 IST, December 20th 2020
Germany to prioritise vulnerable population in initial stages of mass COVID-19 vaccination
Germany, which reported a record level of deaths due to COVID-19, also entered a harder lockdown on December 16 with shops and schools shutting down completely.
German health minister Jens Spahn announced a detailed plan for the country’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign on Friday, December 18. Speaking at a virtual press conference, he said that "vulnerable" people would be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination. Germany, along with 26 other EU members, is scheduled to begin mass inoculation on December 27.
Elaborating further, he said that Germany would receive limited doses of vaccines in the initial days, making it important to prioritise people who require it more. Spahn revealed that all citizens above the age of 80 years would be the first ones to get it. In addendum, residents and workers of nursing homes would also constitute the initial recipients.
Urging residents to be patient, he said that vaccinating the priority group would take at least two months adding that the vaccination programme could be expanded only post that. "This means for all of us that there still is a long winter ahead. We will have to live with this virus for a long time," Spahn was quoted as saying by ANI.
The vaccine developed by pharmaceutical giants BioNTech and Pfizer is expected to be approved by the European Medicines agency next week. In that case, nearly three to four million doses would be made available across the nation by January 2021, the German government stated. Following arrival, the vaccines would be granted to the local government in proportion to their population for distribution to citizens.
Germany, which reported a record level of deaths due to COVID-19, also entered a harder lockdown on December 16 with shops and schools shutting down in a bid to flatten the drastic spread of the novel coronavirus.
Vaccination in other EU nations
If the Pfizer-BioNTech jab gets approved before Christmas, all the 27 members stated are expected to begin mass inoculation by December 27. While Italy's health minister called the COVID-19 vaccine the "light at the end of the tune", the nation's coronavirus emergency commissioner Domenico Arcuri's proposal of starting mass vaccinations from January has also been approved on December 17. Relaying a similar approach as other nations, Italy would also immunise high-risk groups before introducing the same to the general population.
Updated 01:26 IST, December 20th 2020