Germany is considering the possibility of administering a booster dose of covid-19 vaccine to elderly and immunocompromised people, starting in September, AFP reports citing a project by the German Ministry of Health.
The plan, which also calls for the recommendation of vaccinations for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17, was drawn up by officials from the Ministry of Health and is due to be finalized at a meeting scheduled for this Monday between Minister Jens Spahn and vaccination organizers. Ministry of Health of the 16 federal states of Germany.
It is about sending mobile vaccination teams to nursing homes to administer vaccines using mRNA technology, i.e. Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna, regardless of the vaccine previously administered to these users.
Doctors will also be able to prescribe booster vaccinations for the elderly and patients with weakened immune systems.
According to the document, some recent studies have shown a progressive decrease in the level of immunity against covid-19 caused by vaccination, which could put the most vulnerable people at risk again.
Despite a lower incidence rate than most European countries, Germany has seen an increase in cases in recent weeks due to the spread of the delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
At the same time, the German authorities have expressed some concern about the slowdown in vaccination rates at a time when only 52% of Germans are fully vaccinated, and therefore they also want to open all vaccination centers in the country for young people aged 12 years and older. and 17 years old. Schools and universities will also be able to vaccinate.
On Saturday, the German health minister said on Twitter that one in five young people between the ages of 12 and 17 have already received their first dose of the vaccine.
“The vaccine is sufficient for all age groups: anyone can be vaccinated,” said Jens Spahn.
According to information released today by the Robert Koch Institute, the organization responsible for controlling and combating epidemics in Germany, 2,097 new cases and one death have been reported in the last 24 hours. Since the start of the pandemic, the country has recorded more than 3.7 million cases and 91,659 deaths.
The covid-19 pandemic has caused at least 4,220,816 deaths worldwide, out of more than 197.8 million new coronavirus infections, according to the latest France-Presse report released on Sunday.
