Chancellor Merkel spoke plainly about the vaccine at a meeting of the Union parliamentary group on Tuesday - and gives an outlook on the year.
Federal Chancellor *
Angela Merkel
provided information about the vaccine stocks this year.
She also praised the work of Health Minister
Jens Spahn to
date
.
Two quarters could therefore be
“critical”
, while the second half of the year is likely to promise a surplus
Berlin - Chancellor
Angela Merkel
* spoke out on Tuesday at the first meeting of the Union parliamentary group after the winter break for Health Minister Jens Spahn.
At the online meeting, she defended Spahn's controversial course regarding corona vaccinations and provided information about the availability of the
vaccine
* during the year.
Chancellor on vaccine: Quarters one and two “critical” - afterwards probably a surplus
According to several participants at the first meeting of the year, Merkel said that
scientifically and logistically it was a
major achievement
that a vaccine would already be available only ten months after the virus outbreak.
There was also praise for the fact that the vaccine had even been
pre-produced
in order to advance global vaccinations.
The Chancellor
expressly
thanked
the CDU politician that the situation should not be nagged.
From the part of the coalition partner
SPD
there was recently criticism that the previous vaccine orders should not be sufficient, there were also disagreements about the organization of vaccination appointments on site.
With regard to the available vaccine, the Chancellor noted a
bottleneck
until the middle of the year, but from the second half of the year the resources should be more than sufficient.
“
Quarters one and two are
critical
.
From the third quarter we will be able to sell something rather than need, ”she was
quoted
by the
picture
as saying.
"Overall, we have
more than enough
vaccine," concluded Merkel.
Chancellor on vaccine: Angela Merkel praises Jens Spahn - Minister pushed vaccine approvals forward early on
Even if not all vaccine manufacturers were approved, the
surplus
could
already be foreseen in the third quarter.
This fact gives hope that the country can come out of the difficult situation this winter.
According to the meeting attendees, Jens Spahn is said to have
tried to
find
more options
for vaccine production, something that nobody had thought of in August.
This is the reason why the vaccine plant in Marburg is already close to approval.
Without Spahn's commitment, the EU Commission would probably
not have been able to conclude an additional contract
with the manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer.
For this reason, too, additional vaccines could be delivered to Germany in the second quarter of the year, said Merkel.
The Chancellor reaffirmed the position of the
European
internal market
, which has more market power than one country alone.
Germany would therefore be of no use if the people in the states around the Federal Republic were not vaccinated.
(ajr) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.