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Biontech vaccine »Comirnaty« (archive image)
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
In view of the rush for booster vaccinations, Biontech is delivering twice as much vaccine as planned to the German state this week.
For this purpose, Biontech is moving forward a delivery batch of 2.9 million doses of its product "Corminaty" scheduled for the coming week, as a company spokeswoman told SPIEGEL on request.
This means that the federal government will receive a total of 5.8 million doses of the Biontech vaccine this week.
With the earlier delivery, Biontech is responding to the skyrocketing need for booster vaccinations.
In the past week, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute, almost 3.3 million boosters were administered nationwide - almost three times as many as in mid-November.
The number of first vaccinations is also increasing: According to statistics, around 580,000 people were first immunized last week.
However, this data could be falsified because people who do not get a third vaccination appointment may also get first vaccinations, some of which are much easier to get.
30 million cans of Moderna by the end of the year
Either way, the Biontech vaccine is in great demand right now.
Corminaty is injected in more than 90 percent of all vaccinations.
A few days ago, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) caused outrage when he announced upper order limits for the Biontech vaccine.
Spahn defended the cap by stating that the stocks would otherwise run empty due to the massive increase in demand.
How such a shortage is supposed to come about is a mystery.
Because so far, since the start of the vaccination campaign from Biontech and its partner Pfizer, the federal government has received more than 108 million doses of "Comirnaty".
According to RKI statistics, only a good 95 million of them were inoculated.
SPIEGEL has asked Spahn's ministry several times about the current stock levels;
however, the press office does not provide any information.
In the course of December, Biontech plans to deliver two batches: another 2.9 million doses in the week after next and 2.4 million doses of children's vaccine just before Christmas.
This, together with this week's deliveries, will hardly be enough to meet the booster needs.
However, Germany will receive large quantities of the mRNA substance from Moderna by the end of the year: According to a list by the Federal Ministry of Health, more than 30 million doses.
A Moderna spokesman confirmed this to SPIEGEL on request.
Just like the Biontech preparation, »Spikevax« from Moderna is an mRNA vaccine of comparably good quality.
According to previous studies, the effectiveness is similarly high, studies by a Swedish university also suggest that the protection provided by »Spikevax« may last even longer than with the Biontech preparation.
Numerous virologists and immunologists strongly recommend getting a first or third vaccination with the Moderna vaccine instead of exposing yourself to the risk of infection for weeks unprotected or not completely protected.
