Photographer: Fabrizio Bensch / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Fabrizio Bensch / AFP / Getty Images
Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany will accelerate its vaccination campaign against Covid-19, seeking to recover from the temporary shutdown of the Shot of AstraZeneca Plc because of problems with blood clots.
With Europe facing a resurgence of a virus from France to the Czech Republic, Merkel presented a vision of how to control the crisis while signaling that Germany may need to reverse some of its earlier easing of the blockade. Three available vaccines and the expected arrival of a Johnson & Johnson injection will help, she said.
“Starting in April, we want to become faster and more flexible and we will be able to do that,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Friday after talks with German state leaders. “We want to complement the proverbial German rigor with greater flexibility.”
Like many of her European peers, Merkel is facing challenges on several fronts. For now, she is caught between the woes of the European Union’s vaccine, public discontent over her response to the pandemic and a resurgence of cases after Germany eased the blocking restrictions. Support for the ruling party bloc dropped to its lowest level in a year in a poll this week.
On Monday, Merkel and state leaders will discuss whether restrictions on Europe’s largest economy should be extended to April or even increased, rather than eased, as suggested by the government earlier this month. Covid-19 cases in Germany increased by more than two months on Thursday.
“We are seeing exponential growth” in some cases, said Merkel on Friday. “Unfortunately, we will have to use the handbrake.”
There and back again
European countries suspended and reinstated the use of the Astra vaccine
Source: Bloomberg
Europe’s effort to accelerate its Covid-19 vaccination campaign is facing the challenge of restoring public confidence after a chaotic week of vaccine suspensions, health problems and threats of export bans.
EU officials are trying to anticipate the second quarter, when vaccine deliveries are expected to increase rapidly. On Thursday, the EU drug regulator gave permission for the injection of AstraZeneca, after reports linked it to blood clots in a small number of patients.
“Whenever you launch a vaccine like this for millions and millions of people, there will be coincidences and other events happening in parallel with the implantation,” World Health Organization senior adviser Bruce Aylward told reporters on Friday.
“What people generally look for is that they are properly evaluated, so that their confidence can be assured,” he said.
Merkel addressed the issue of public confidence in vaccines on Friday, saying she is ready to take the AstraZeneca injection.
Sputnik option
The Russian Sputnik vaccine is also an option if it is approved by the European Medicines Agency, said Merkel. Although a joint European order from Russia is preferable, “we would have to follow the German path alone”, if necessary, she said.
Although the decline in the German rhythm of infections was reversed in March, the country still has fewer cases per capita than countries like Italy and France, where a renewed four-week blockade in Paris and some other regions began on Friday.
Health Minister Jens Spahn, who faces opposition resignations, said on Friday that Germany was in a “third wave” of Covid-19 with a large number of cases of variant viruses.
“There are some very challenging weeks ahead,” he said.
Measures to increase Germany’s immunization campaign include allowing German doctors’ offices to start vaccines for AstraZeneca on April 6, Merkel said. Overall, the plan calls for vaccination options to expand gradually to include existing doctors and vaccination centers.
“The slogan is: vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate,” said Merkel.
– With the help of Corinne Gretler
(Updates with comments from Merkel on the growth of Covid cases in the sixth paragraph.)