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Germany in talks with vaccine makers about funding for more capacity

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Germany in talks with vaccine makers about funding for more capacity
A vial with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Freising, southern Germany, on February 2, 2021. Christof STACHE / AFP

Germany is in talks with BioNTech and other vaccine makers about possible funding to help them secure capacity and raw materials, the country’s health minister Jens Spahn has said.

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According to Reuters, the discussions follow a government “vaccine summit” this week with state leaders and representatives of pharmaceutical companies and the European commission to discuss progress in vaccinating the population.

Leaders are under pressure to accelerate the vaccine push as European nations are struggling to bring down infection numbers and concerns grow about new, more infectious virus variants.

This week Germany became an unlikely champion of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, offering support and possible production sites in the hopes of speeding up the European Union's inoculation drive. 

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Germany's health minister Jens Spahn tweeted on Saturday:

"At the Vaccine Summit, BioNTech outlined a potential funding requirement of up to €400m for reserving capacity and raw materials into next year. We are in exchange with the company to further firm this up.

"We are also talking to other vaccine manufacturers about this. We want to secure sufficient capacity for Germany, Europe and the world for 2022 in case of problematic mutations or necessary booster vaccinations."

READ ALSO: How can Germany speed up its Covid-19 vaccination campaign?

 

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