PandemicPreparedness

2022

4 April: Health officials have have approved a fourth dose, or second booster, of COVID-19 vaccine for specific groups. The fourth dose may be given no earlier than three months after receiving the first booster dose. The following groups are eligible:

• People aged 70 and over.
• People in residential care facilities.
• Individuals aged 5 years and over with immunodeficiency.
• Healthcare workers.

16 January: Health officials have approved the third booster dose recommendation for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The third booster dose is recommended three months after the previous vaccination.

2021

12 December: The government has passed a law mandating COVID-19 vaccination for healthcare workers. All employees of hospitals, nursing and retirement homes, facilities for the disabled, day clinics, private medical practices, emergency services and socio-educational centres are affected. A deadline of 15 March was provided, after which employees risk suspension from work. According to the article, mandatory vaccination for all adults is supported by a majority of the German population.

13 September: The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) has recommended vaccination against COVID-19 for pregnant women.According to the government statement (in German), pregnant women are recommended to be vaccinated now starting after the first trimester.STIKO recommends mRNA vaccines; Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech. The Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn stated: “Pregnant and breastfeeding women now also have a clear recommendation for vaccination. After many months with many unanswered questions, this finally means scientifically based certainty. My urgent request to all pregnant and breastfeeding women: Ask your doctor. Get vaccinated. You protect yourself and your child. "

31 August: Federal Health Minister, Jens Spahn, released a statement (in German) regarding the status of the vaccine campaign. In the address, he acknowledged the milestone of fully vaccinating more than 60% of the population, before urging people who are not yet vaccinated to get it done. He highlighted the fact that while the decision to be vaccinated is a personal one, the decision impacts others around them. “Yes, whoever gets vaccinated, whoever chooses to be vaccinated, protects himself, but he also protects those who cannot be vaccinated: children under the age of 12, for example.” Noting that currently more than 90% of patients in the ICU are unvaccinated, he emphasized the way out of the pandemic is through vaccination.

16 August: The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) has updated (in German) its guidelines regarding vaccination. STIKO now endorses vaccination for all people above the age of 12-years-old. The decision comes with the availability of new safety data from ongoing trials.

3 August: Vaccination is now open (in German) to those aged 12 to 17-years-old, with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Additionally, beginning in September, booster vaccinations will be offered to vulnerable groups.

6 July: Those who have received the first dose of the Vaxzevria version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine are now recommended to have an mRNA vaccine as the second dose. Further information may be found here.

19 June: Over 65 million vaccine doses have been administered, which equates to 50.6% of the population having had at least one vaccine dose and almost a third fully vaccinated.

11 June: The German vaccine advisory committee (STIKO) has given conditional approval (in German) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be used for some adolescents. It recommends the vaccine be given to people aged 12-17 who have pre-existing conditions which would put them at higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness.

9 June: People in Germany who have been vaccinated against Coronavirus will be able to get the European digital Corona vaccination passport from next week, media reports. The app CovPass will need to be downloaded in order to save the information.

10 May: German Health Minister Jens Spahn has been reported in the media to announce that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be offered to all adults over the age of 18 from June onwards. Initially the Johnson and Johnson vaccine had been prioritiesed for citizens over the age of 60 years.

27 April: The German Chancellor has announced that from June, all adults will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. The country is expecting to receive 80 million vaccine doses in Q2, 2021.

As of 25 April, around 23.4% and 7.2% of the 83 million inhabitants had received the first and second doses respectively.

14 April: In Germany, people under 60 who have been given a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will receive a different shot for their second dose, authorities said on Tuesday. The second dose will be with either the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine or the Moderna vaccine. The new policy is in line with recommendations released last week by Germany's vaccine commission, which also recommended the second injection be given 12 weeks after the initial AstraZeneca dose.

30 March: In view of further episodes of blood clots, authorities have recommended AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination should only be used in people over the age of 60.

19 March: The federal government has decided to resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Following reports of rare clotting issues after vaccination, several countries suspended use of the vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) reviewed the available data and concluded the vaccine is not associated with an overall increase in risk of blood clots, though awareness of the risk needs to be acknowledged. The EMA recommended continuing to use the AstraZeneca vaccine. Based on this information the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), which regulates the vaccine in Germany, and federal health ministers decided jointly to resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine starting today (in German).

5 March: The Federal Government announced plans to expand vaccine provision rights to general practitioners and specialists in private practice. The change is expected to take place late this month, or early April. Vaccine centers will continue to operate via appointment using the country’s group prioritization guidelines found here (in German). In private physicians’ offices “the decision on prioritization is made on the basis of medical assessments in order to enable a more flexible implementation of the vaccinations.”

The vaccine plan has also been updated, now recommending using the longest recommended interval between first and second doses of the vaccine. This will allow vaccination to expand to more people, sooner.

4 March: Media are reporting that the AztraZeneca vaccine has received expanded approval. Health Minister Jens Spahn stated: “This is good news for older people who are waiting for a vaccine. They can now be vaccinated more quickly. We will shortly issue a regulation implementing both recommendations.” The Permanent Vaccine Commission also recommended waiting up to 12 weeks between doses. They further recommended anyone who has previously had COVID-19 and recovered wait until six months after their diagnosis before receiving the vaccine.