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BERLIN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Germany will run up against
limits on its capacity to inoculate people against COVID-19 by
the end of March, health ministry documents showed, as an
expected increase in supply puts its network of vaccination
centres to the test.
Germany has so far been starved of shots as drugmakers faced
production problems, but shortages are likely to ease as
deliveries accelerate, according to a revised vaccine strategy
released by the health ministry on Wednesday.
The strategy update came as German biotech startup BioNTech
launched a new facility in the German town of
Marburg, expecting first vaccines made there to be distributed
in early April.
BioNTech's shot, made in partnership with U.S. drug company
Pfizer, was the first to win approval for use in the
European Union.
Germany is also getting vaccines from Moderna and
AstraZeneca. The Pfizer and Moderna shots need to be
kept frozen, while Astra's can be stored in a fridge, making it
suitable for administration by family doctors.
Around 2.4 million people have been vaccinated in Germany,
or 2.9% of the population, since it started vaccinations in
December, health ministry data showed.
Initial shortages should give way in the second quarter to
more abundant supply, when Germany expects to receive 77 million
vaccine doses. Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised shots to
all adults who want one by the end of the summer.
To reach this target, vaccinations will be offered at
general practitioners' clinics, working in parallel with the
existing network of more than 400 vaccination centres, the plan
document read.
"It is becoming clear that the vaccination centres will have
to continue to operate for a longer period of time, even after
doctors' practices are involved," it read.
In the plan, Germany's Institute for Statutory Health Care
(Zi) recommended increasing the daily capacity of vaccination
centres to 300,000 from 200,000 to meet targets.
According to Zi calculations and based on drugmakers'
delivery commitments, Germany will be able to inoculate around
three million people a week from May and administer around one
million shots a day by the end of June.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke
Writing by Riham Alkousaa
Editing by Douglas Busvine)
