Too little corona vaccine ordered: Lauterbach raises the alarm after an inventory - then he adds it on TV

Created: 12/15/2021, 05:43 AM

From: Richard Strobl, Jonas Raab

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Karl Lauterbach (l, SPD), Federal Minister of Health, talk at their party's federal party conference.

© Kay Nietfeld / dpa

After his inventory, Karl Lauterbach sounds the alarm.

There is not enough corona vaccine for the booster campaign.

Then he adds.

Update from December 14th, 9:17 pm:

Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has spoken in the ARD Tagesthemen and confirmed a media report: "We have a vaccine shortage for the first quarter," said the SPD politician on Tuesday evening.

This surprised many in a vaccine inventory that was carried out.

"Me too," said Lauterbach.

In his own words, the minister is already working to remedy the deficiency.

“I hope that I will be able to convey a positive message over the next few days.” Efforts ran across all channels, including directly to the companies, but everything had to be EU-compliant.

“We have to gain speed here.

Too little corona vaccine: Lauterbach sounds the alarm after an inventory - "Situation extremely difficult"

First report

Berlin - Germany apparently threatened big problems with the Corona * vaccination campaign.

After his inventory in the Ministry of Health, the new Minister Karl Lauterbach

informed the health

ministers of

the federal states about a serious vaccine shortage in the coming year,

according to

information.

“The situation is extremely difficult,” Lauterbach is quoted as saying.

He always praised his predecessor Jens Spahn.

But his inventory showed that there was "a serious shortage of vaccines in the coming year".

Lauterbach gave this information to the report according to the health ministers of the federal states at today's video conference *.

Karl Lauterbach raises the alarm after vaccine inventory - "bought far too little"

“Far too little vaccine was bought for the entire first quarter.

The quantities are not enough to drive the booster vaccination campaign, "the Minister of Health * is quoted further.

In the "most important month" of the booster campaign, the vaccine is missing.

However, the situation in February and March was not any better, they said.

According to

, Lauterbach already met on Friday with all the specialist departments of his new ministry as well as with Bundeswehr General Carsten Breuer to get an overview of the quantities of vaccine in stock.

It is said to have been checked which vaccination doses are stored where and which deliveries can be expected for the first quarter of 2022 according to the existing contracts.

Booster vaccine is running out in January - so few doses are delivered to Germany

The result of the inventory: 2 million cans from Biontech * are still in stock for the last two weeks of the year.

At the beginning of the new year there would be another 1.2 million.

According to

this means that the number of vaccine doses is

"one sixth compared to before".

The Moderna portfolio is therefore better off.

Its manufacturer can deliver 10 million booster doses per week, according to the report.

Taking all manufacturers together, you would have a total of 3.6 million doses for the booster vaccination in the third and fourth weeks.

The participants in the health ministers' video conference are said to have been shocked by these numbers.

Even in advance there were doubts whether the vaccination promises made by Chancellor Olaf Scholz * could be kept.

Lauterbach promised the participants of the meeting after the report that he would personally seek more vaccine from the manufacturers Biontech and Moderna as well as from other countries.