It is good news, especially for risk groups: According to a media report, Germany will receive millions of doses of the new corona vaccine at the beginning of September, which protects against the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. However, there is still one hurdle.
According to a report by “Spiegel”, the delivery of a new corona vaccine, which protects better against the prevailing omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, is imminent. According to this, Germany should receive around 5 million doses of the adapted BA.1 vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer per week in the two calendar weeks 36 and 37 - i.e. from September 5th. In addition, the federal government will receive 2.38 million doses of BA.1 vaccine from the manufacturer Moderna during the two weeks of September mentioned. This emerges from a letter from Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach to all service providers involved in the vaccination campaign against Covid-19, which the “Spiegel” says it has. The cans are to be delivered immediately to pharmaceutical wholesalers so that pharmacies and doctors can be supplied quickly.
Before that, however, the EU Commission still has to give the green light. "We are currently assuming that the European Commission will approve both the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine adapted to the BA.1 variant and that of Moderna on September 1 or 2, 2022," Lauterbach said. The new vaccines should be available to order from September 5th.
"According to the available study data, the vaccines work significantly better against the currently predominant BA.5 variant than the first-generation vaccine," the letter says. "Especially for high-risk groups, they can be a crucial factor, because we should not forget that around 100 people are still dying every day related to a Covid-19 infection. Therefore, I urge you to actively promote this vaccine," warns Lauterbach.
Another new vaccine, adapted to the prevailing omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, will “be available just a few weeks later,” the minister writes. "Biontech/Pfizer has already announced that the European Commission will ideally approve the BA.4/BA.5-adapted vaccine as early as late September/early October." Then Germany will be supplied by Biontech/Pfizer "very quickly after approval with a first tranche of 9.5 million doses," it continues.
However, risk groups should not wait until then to get vaccinated, warns Lauterbach and calls for the new vaccines to be actively advertised: "The success of the vaccination campaign depends to a large extent on the actors involved - from logistics to vaccinating the patients." Closing vaccination gaps and increasing vaccination quotas for booster vaccinations is one of the decisive factors for an autumn and winter with the best possible protection for the population and as few restrictions as possible.
