German Health Minister Jens Spahn urged people in the country to be patient with the speed with which the coronavirus vaccine is launched.
Spahn, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, said the first step was to vaccinate everyone in need of care and the country’s elders.
He said that almost 400,000 people in Germany have already been vaccinated.
Figures from the Robert Koch Institute, the national disease control and prevention agency, show that 367,331 vaccines were administered, with 150,000 in nursing homes and about 176,000 doctors receiving the vaccine.
Germany is behind the United Kingdom, which vaccinated 1.3 million people starting on Tuesday. But it is ahead of France, which has also attracted criticism for the slow start of its vaccination implementation, administering 516 vaccines until January 1. The country has since significantly increased its implementation, with more than 5,000 doses administered on January 5, according to its health minister. Italy has so far managed almost 250,000 inoculations.
Spahn added that these were days of confidence for Germany.
But he also said he understands the population’s impatience.
The truth is that the vaccine is a scarce commodity in the world, ”he said.
“That is why we have to ask the majority of the population for patience,” said Spahn, explaining that the situation was no different in the European Union in general or outside it.
Spahn said the reason for the speed of deployment was due to limited production capacity.
The good news: there will be enough vaccine in Germany, “he said.
Spahn said the hope is to be able to offer a vaccine to everyone in the summer.
“Today we expect a second authorization for the Modern vaccine,” he said, referring to a pending decision by the European Medicines Agency on the Modern vaccine on Wednesday.
“We hope that the delivery of Modern vaccines will start early next week.”