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The German authorities have announced that they will administer a possible vaccine against Covid-19 on the basis of a plan: People in risk groups, such as the elderly and patients with pre-existing diseases, will be vaccinated first. The plan will be carried out by an independent expert committee, reports Agerpres.
Hospital and nursing home workers should also be included in the first line of vaccination, representatives of the German Ethics Council said in a statement Monday. The same document lists employees from other fields in the list of priority categories, such as those who work for local health authorities, police, firefighters and teachers, revealed the president of the committee, Alena Buyx, in an official presentation of this plan of vaccination, which took place in Berlin.
People living in crowded centers, such as the homeless and asylum seekers from other countries, should also be included in the priority categories, he added. Hard data is still needed to accurately prioritize, although Alena Buyx said “very elderly patients … are by far the highest risk group.”
Thomas Mertens, director of the Standing Committee on Immunization (STIKO), says that an official decision has not yet been made based on the recommendations of the German Ethics Council. “This prioritization must be established by policy makers based on recommendations,” said Thomas Mertens. Any final decision must be made by “those who hold the syringe,” he added.
The first vaccines developed against the COVID-19 disease could be licensed from 2021, according to some experts. Germany is home to one of the main competitors currently conducting phase 3 clinical trials and which are being analyzed by the European Union drug regulatory authority. The German company BioNTech developed a vaccine in collaboration with an American partner, the Pfizer group.
The two companies announced Monday afternoon that their candidate vaccine is 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 disease and that they intend to apply for an emergency use authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA ). , next week.
Germany has reported a total of 671,868 cases of infection with the new coronavirus since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control. This figure represents an increase of 13,363 cases compared to the balance published on Sunday. The death toll increased by 63 and reached a cumulative 11,352.
Faced with the second wave of SARS-CoV-2 infection this year, Germany has reintroduced national restrictions in its attempt to protect its national health system from the risk of collapse. Among the announced measures are limiting gatherings in public spaces to no more than two people from the same family and forcing restaurants and bars to close during November.
Publisher: Adrian Dumitru
