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The German government is pressuring the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine before Christmas. Berlin demands that the vaccine be launched before December 23 at the EU level, and therefore also in Germany, reports the tabloid newspaper “Bild”, citing government and EU circles. Meanwhile, Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) said that most Germans could get vaccinated by the end of the summer of 2021.
Both the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Health would make this request internally, reported “Bild”. So far, the EMA has announced a decision for December 29. This is considered too late in federal government circles, “Bild” reports. The Biontech and Pfizer vaccine is already approved in the UK, US and Canada. There the vaccination campaigns have already started.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn assumes that around 60 percent of citizens in Germany could get vaccinated against the corona virus by the end of summer 2021. As of today, such a large number of doses of vaccine in the summer that much of the population could be vaccinated in the summer, said the CDU politician on Monday night in the ZDF “heute-journal” when asked when 60 percent of the population could be vaccinated .
By then, anyone who wants should be able to get a vaccine. According to experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccination rate of 60 to 70 percent of the population is necessary for effective control of the corona pandemic.
Spahn went on to say: “Our aim is for there to be approval before Christmas and that we can start vaccinating this year, also here in Germany – in the end, the (European Medicines Agency) Ema has to decide.” Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer had applied to the European Medicines Agency (Ema) for approval of the corona vaccine. The report of the expert committee should be available by December 29 at the latest.
Spahn added that proper approval makes sense so that many citizens can get vaccinated. “But yes, (the vaccination) should come quickly.” To date, 12 to 13 million doses of vaccines are expected for the first trimester. If there were additional approval from Astra Zeneca or Johnson & Johnson in this first quarter, “we would have additional doses of vaccine available.” “That is quite realistic, but not sure yet.”
In any case, it could ensure that Germany will not be disadvantaged by the emergency approval of the vaccine in the US “We have contracts like the European Union, Britain has contracts, the United States has contracts, and they have all secured appropriate amounts for the first quarter on these contracts. ” Nothing is removed from EU contracts or shipped elsewhere before, “he added. That is not the case.”
