Almost one in four people in Germany fully vaccinated against Covid
Almost 25 percent of the German population is fully vaccinated against coronavirus, new figures show.
According to the latest data, 24.8 percent (20.6 million people) of people in Germany have been fully vaccinated. And nearly half - 47.5 percent (39.5 million) - have received at least one jab.
A total of 59 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, according to the RKI. There are just over 83 million people in Germany.
It comes after Germany gave out more than two million jabs over two days. A total of 1,096,521 vaccine doses were injected into the arms of people on Thursday, while 1,306,600 million shots were administered on Wednesday.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn, of the CDU, tweeted about the achievement on Thursday.
READ ALSO: Germany is in 'race to vaccinate' against Covid Delta variant, warns Merkel
Gestern gab es zum zweiten Mal in dieser Woche über 1 Mio (Erst- und Zweit-) Impfungen: Damit sind nun 39,5 Mio Deutsche (47,5%) mindestens einmal geimpft und jeder Vierte (24,8%) hat den vollen Impfschutz.
— Jens Spahn (@jensspahn) June 11, 2021
The vaccination rate varies depending on the federal state. Bremen has recorded the highest rate of people vaccinated at least once, at 52.1 percent. Saxony lags slightly behind the other states at 42.7 percent.
Nach #Bremen (52,1%) und dem #Saarland (51,0%) hat nun auch NRW (50,0%) jeden zweiten Bürger mit zumindest einer Impfung gegen das #Coronavirus versorgt.@welt pic.twitter.com/10xuea28IE
— Olaf Gersemann (@OlafGersemann) June 11, 2021
Saarland leads the way when considering all vaccine doses administered, while the campaign is slowest in Hamburg, according to the RKI. However, Hamburg is also among the states that have received the fewest vaccine doses so far.
Germany lifted the priority list on Monday, meaning that all adults have been able to apply for a vaccine appointment.
At the same time, thousands of in-house company doctors have started carrying out vaccinations on staff, helping to push up vaccine numbers.
Yet there are still supply issues and there can be long delays in actually securing an appointment.
State by state: How to apply for a Covid vaccine appointment in Germany
Concerns over children
Meanwhile, German health expert Karl Lauterbach, of the Social Democrats, says he fears there will be a wave of Covid infections in children after summer if there is not widespread vaccination in younger age groups.
Lauterbach, who has become a high profile figure in Germany during the pandemic, is urging Germany to vaccinate children quickly. The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine has been approved in the EU for children over 12.
But Germany's Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO), which advises the government on vaccine matters, this week did not issue a general recommendation for healthy children aged 12 and older to be vaccinated, as expected.
It recommends jabs for 12 to 17-year-olds with certain pre-existing conditions. STIKO does say, however, that vaccinations in healthy young children should be possible after consultation between the child, parents and doctor.
“The use of Comirnaty (the BioNTech/Pfizer shot) in children and adolescents aged 12-17 years without previous illnesses is currently not generally recommended,” the draft resolution states.
STIKO members believe not enough is known about about the effects of Covid vaccines in children.
READ ALSO: Covid jabs for children in Germany will be an ‘individual decision’ says Health Minister
Despite the advice from STIKO, Health Minister Spahn opened up vaccine appointments to everyone over 12 this week. Ministers say Covid jabs can be given out to children over 12 after consultation with parents and a doctor.
Lauterbach said not vaccinating children widely could see Covid infections soar among them.
"In normal regular operation (in schools), we will see a lot of infected children without vaccination," he said on talk show Maybrit Illner.
Lauterbach doesn't think it is too dangerous to let children return to school after the summer vacations, even if they are unvaccinated. But he also cautions: "I don't think it's right that we say we protect adults by vaccinating them, but we protect children by allowing them to get infected."
READ ALSO: Jabs for children and digital passports: What can we expect from Germany's vaccine summit?
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According to the latest data, 24.8 percent (20.6 million people) of people in Germany have been fully vaccinated. And nearly half - 47.5 percent (39.5 million) - have received at least one jab.
A total of 59 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, according to the RKI. There are just over 83 million people in Germany.
It comes after Germany gave out more than two million jabs over two days. A total of 1,096,521 vaccine doses were injected into the arms of people on Thursday, while 1,306,600 million shots were administered on Wednesday.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn, of the CDU, tweeted about the achievement on Thursday.
READ ALSO: Germany is in 'race to vaccinate' against Covid Delta variant, warns Merkel
Gestern gab es zum zweiten Mal in dieser Woche über 1 Mio (Erst- und Zweit-) Impfungen: Damit sind nun 39,5 Mio Deutsche (47,5%) mindestens einmal geimpft und jeder Vierte (24,8%) hat den vollen Impfschutz.
— Jens Spahn (@jensspahn) June 11, 2021
The vaccination rate varies depending on the federal state. Bremen has recorded the highest rate of people vaccinated at least once, at 52.1 percent. Saxony lags slightly behind the other states at 42.7 percent.
Nach #Bremen (52,1%) und dem #Saarland (51,0%) hat nun auch NRW (50,0%) jeden zweiten Bürger mit zumindest einer Impfung gegen das #Coronavirus versorgt.@welt pic.twitter.com/10xuea28IE
— Olaf Gersemann (@OlafGersemann) June 11, 2021
Saarland leads the way when considering all vaccine doses administered, while the campaign is slowest in Hamburg, according to the RKI. However, Hamburg is also among the states that have received the fewest vaccine doses so far.
Germany lifted the priority list on Monday, meaning that all adults have been able to apply for a vaccine appointment.
At the same time, thousands of in-house company doctors have started carrying out vaccinations on staff, helping to push up vaccine numbers.
Yet there are still supply issues and there can be long delays in actually securing an appointment.
State by state: How to apply for a Covid vaccine appointment in Germany
Concerns over children
Meanwhile, German health expert Karl Lauterbach, of the Social Democrats, says he fears there will be a wave of Covid infections in children after summer if there is not widespread vaccination in younger age groups.
Lauterbach, who has become a high profile figure in Germany during the pandemic, is urging Germany to vaccinate children quickly. The BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine has been approved in the EU for children over 12.
But Germany's Standing Commission on Vaccination (STIKO), which advises the government on vaccine matters, this week did not issue a general recommendation for healthy children aged 12 and older to be vaccinated, as expected.
It recommends jabs for 12 to 17-year-olds with certain pre-existing conditions. STIKO does say, however, that vaccinations in healthy young children should be possible after consultation between the child, parents and doctor.
“The use of Comirnaty (the BioNTech/Pfizer shot) in children and adolescents aged 12-17 years without previous illnesses is currently not generally recommended,” the draft resolution states.
STIKO members believe not enough is known about about the effects of Covid vaccines in children.
READ ALSO: Covid jabs for children in Germany will be an ‘individual decision’ says Health Minister
Despite the advice from STIKO, Health Minister Spahn opened up vaccine appointments to everyone over 12 this week. Ministers say Covid jabs can be given out to children over 12 after consultation with parents and a doctor.
Lauterbach said not vaccinating children widely could see Covid infections soar among them.
"In normal regular operation (in schools), we will see a lot of infected children without vaccination," he said on talk show Maybrit Illner.
Lauterbach doesn't think it is too dangerous to let children return to school after the summer vacations, even if they are unvaccinated. But he also cautions: "I don't think it's right that we say we protect adults by vaccinating them, but we protect children by allowing them to get infected."
READ ALSO: Jabs for children and digital passports: What can we expect from Germany's vaccine summit?
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