Charlotte Walters '24 | Germany Falls Behind in Vaccine Distribution

DW

Germany, along with other European Union states began distributing its first doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine on December 27, 2020, which requires two doses to be effective. As a sign of unity, the vaccine was distributed to all EU member-states at the same time. The Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines are the only three to be approved in the EU since the rollout began.

Chancellor Angela Merkel recognized the slow start of Germany’s vaccine rollout due to bureaucratic and logistical problems, promising vaccinations to members of high risk categories by April. Many elderly people faced complications in scheduling vaccine appointments due to shortages and variations in distribution approaches across the sixteen states. The German vaccine rollout remains behind the United States and Britain in the number of doses distributed per capita. Part of this lies in the skepticism surrounding the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has gained notoriety as the “second rate” vaccine following recommendations that it should not be administered to people over 65 due to lack of data. However, the EU has approved this vaccine for all adults, spurring controversy. This has led to a call for changes in vaccine priority groups due to lack of administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine in older age groups. Under the current plan, vaccines should be fully distributed to interested candidates by September, but this may be slowed by hesitance to accept AstraZeneca vaccine. Roughly 15 percent of available AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered in Germany due to this reluctance. Additionally, AstraZeneca announced that it will fall short of the EU contract, supplying only half the amount of the vaccine it had initially pledged to produce. 

European Union leaders met for a virtual coronavirus summit to discuss vaccines, border control, and travel. A consensus exists surrounding a digital vaccination certificate for travel purposes. Roughly 8 percent of the EU adult population has been vaccinated, falling significantly behind the US, UK, and Israel. The effectiveness of the vaccine implementation over the next few months will be crucial in slowing the spread of the virus and preventing future lockdowns in Germany and the EU.