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Faster approval of the proven corona vaccine in the EU – that’s what the German Hospital Society is asking for. Health Minister Spahn also wants vaccines this year, but asks for patience.
The German Hospital Society requires emergency approval for the coronavirus vaccine. “I wonder if we really need until December 29 to get the vaccine approved in Europe. Europe should also try to create an emergency approval beforehand,” said Hospital Society President Gerald Gass of the editorial network of Germany. . “Then we could go to the nursing homes with mobile teams before Christmas and vaccinate the residents there,” he added.
While people are already being vaccinated against Covid-19 in the US and Britain, Germany is waiting for the European Approval Authority (EMA) to approve a vaccine. Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer had applied for approval of a corona vaccine there. The report of the expert committee should be available by December 29 at the latest.
Spahn: proper approval is important for trust
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn confirmed in ZDF the objective that the vaccine be approved before Christmas: “and then we can start vaccinating this year as well, here in Germany.”
At the same time, the CDU politician emphasized that this was ultimately an EMA decision and spoke again against emergency approval. From the beginning, it was decided to obtain the appropriate approval at European level. That is important to trust vaccines.
Vaccination of 60 percent of the population by summer 2021
When asked when 60 percent of the population could be vaccinated, Spahn said there would be such a large number of vaccine doses in the summer that a large portion of the population could be vaccinated. 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 pandemic.
According to Spahns, 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 the first quarter, “we would have additional doses of vaccine available,” he added. “That is quite realistic, but not sure yet.”
No downside thanks to US emergency approval.
In any case, it could guarantee that Germany would not be disadvantaged by the emergency approval of the vaccine in the United States, Spahn said. “We have contracts like the European Union, Britain has contracts, the United States has contracts, and they have all secured adequate amounts for the first quarter on these contracts.”
Recently it has been criticized that the vaccine developed in Germany can already be vaccinated in the USA, Canada and Great Britain, but not yet in this country. “It cannot be that a vaccine developed in Germany can only be approved and vaccinated in January,” said FDP health policy spokeswoman in the Bundestag, Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus.
