Germany and Europe Could Fall Short on Vaccine Supplies

[brooklynite]

Source: Der Spiegel

Initially, Germany’s health minister has announced, there will probably only be 400,000 vaccine doses for Germany, with another 11 to 13 million to follow by March -- a fraction of the amount the Americans are getting.

It’s a politically dangerous situation that has now been recognized by the German government. Since last week, it has been taking hectic countermeasures. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) now wants to approve the vaccine a week earlier than planned, and vaccinations are slated to begin in Europe on Dec. 27. Negotiations are also underway with manufacturers to obtain more doses. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel even spoke with BioNTech founders Özlem Türeci and Uğur Șahin in a livestream, part of which was broadcast publicly. The message couldn’t be any clearer: Vaccination is now the chancellor’s business.

That realization has come too late, however. For months, it has been clear that other countries would have more doses of the vaccine, would start vaccinating sooner and, as a result, would be able to take more effective action against the pandemic.

But in Berlin and at European Union headquarters in Brussels, too little action was taken for too long, and it was often justified with complacent arguments: In Europe, medicines are tested better and more precisely than elsewhere in the world, and vaccines are available in abundance thanks to good planning. Health Minister Jens Spahn announced that the critical mass of around 60 percent of the German population could be vaccinated.

The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 52/2020 (December 19, 2020) of DER SPIEGEL.

Read more: https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-planning-disaster-germany-and-europe-could-fall-short-on-vaccine-supplies-a-3db4702d-ae23-4e85-85b7-20145a898abd

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[LiberalLovinLug]

1. Aren't they one of the countries who makes the vaccine?

And who stated that their country would be taken care of first?

[Steelrolled]

3. The Pfizer partner company BionTech is in Germany

but I don't believe Pfizer has any major production in Germany.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Developed in Germany, but the production used by Britain is in Belgium

and from memory, that is their one European production plant.

[hellno45]

2. the countries that have been acting resposibly toward slowing the spread, like Germany, unlike the

US, should get priority.

[Steelrolled]

4. I don't see the relevance, when making deals with the producers.

It would be shocking to me if Germany and other EU countries have not been working on guaranteeing supplies since the start of the vaccine trials.