People in Germany will be able to get vaccinated with AstraZeneca's Corona vaccine in their doctor's office without prioritization in the future. The federal and state governments decided on Thursday to lift the preference given to at-risk groups for this vaccine.

The decision on who will be vaccinated with the manufacturer's vaccine and when will from now on only be made "at the doctor's discretion," Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) announced to journalists in Berlin on Thursday evening.

Furthermore, Spahn held out the prospect that BioNTech's vaccine would be approved "as of today" for children and adolescents aged twelve and older in June, following evaluation of the data. This means that, all other things being equal, a first vaccination could be offered to all children in the age group by the end of August.

According to Spahn, the states each want to draw up concepts for how all twelve to 18-year-olds can be offered their first vaccinations by the end of August. He said the federal government wants to ensure that the necessary vaccine doses for this age group are also available.

"Especially the parents and the children may expect that we prepare this issue in the best possible way," Spahn said. They, like many others, have been suffering from this pandemic for months. It is also a question of "whether and how school can start again after the summer vacations".

Spahn expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the vaccination campaign in Germany. We have "succeeded in what we set out to do," said the federal health minister. In April, as many people were vaccinated as in the previous three months. Yesterday, one million doses were vaccinated again. According to Spahn, only a few large countries, such as the United States, have managed this so far.

Previously, the Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) had recommended continuing to follow the vaccination sequence in Germany. Particularly at risk groups should still be vaccinated preferentially. The panel said Thursday that there is "still a substantial proportion of vaccine-eligible individuals at high risk for a severe course of covid 19 who have not yet had the opportunity to be vaccinated." At last count, for example, about 45 percent of 70- to 79-year-olds and nearly seventy percent of 60- to 69-year-olds had not yet been vaccinated, it said. As more and more vaccine becomes available, different groups could be vaccinated in parallel in the coming months and prioritization levels could be adjusted on a regionally delayed basis, the commission said. Prioritization "continues to make sense," it said.

Photo by Mufid Majnun