Germany has seen a rapid increase in COVID infection rates in recent days, adding impetus to calls to speed up the roll-out of vaccine booster shots for vulnerable groups. Health experts are calling on authorities to start a new campaign to promote the top-up shots. 

Calls for new campaign to promote booster shots in Germany

Medical associations and patient advocates are calling for authorities to act with more urgency in the campaign to provide booster shots against COVID-19 to at-risk population groups, such as elderly people and those with preexisting medical conditions. 

“Booster vaccinations for vulnerable groups are urgently needed, especially in view of the increasing numbers,” said Dirk Heinrich, chairperson of VirchowBund, an association of doctors, in an interview with the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. “Unfortunately, this is not uniformly regulated nationwide, so there are delays in some places.” 

He especially criticised the fact that Germany’s vaccination centres have now been shut down. These high-turnover sites - which were instrumental in making Germany’s first immunisation drive such a success - are now needed more than ever, Heinrich said. Instead, the booster campaign is being left to GPs and mobile vaccination teams, and the patchy rollout is causing delays. 

Just 12 percent of over-70s have had third vaccination jab

Eugen Byrsch, head of the German Patient Protection Foundation, has also criticised the “slow progress” of the booster jab campaign so far. “The statutory health insurance associations are responsible for the fact that, after a good three months, just 12 percent of those over the age of 70 have received a third vaccination offer,” he said in an interview with the Funke Media Group. 

SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach suggested that the government should launch a new campaign to speed up the rollout, to combat the pandemic as Germany heads into the winter. “In view of the rising number of cases - also among the elderly - a new vaccination campaign for the use of booster vaccinations in this age group is now absolutely necessary,” he said.

Left party leader Susanne Hennig-Wellsow and the president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Gernot Marx, have both chimed in with similar appeals. Describing the current case rate as “frightening," Hennig-Wellsow said, “Third vaccinations must be launched now as quickly as possible," while Marx said that booster jabs “play a very important role in combating the pandemic.” 

COVID booster shots in Germany

In early October, Germany’s Standing Vaccination Committee (STIKO) recommended booster shots for all people over the age of 70, after having previously recommended them only for people with weakened immune systems. Top-up jabs are also recommended for residents and staff at nursing homes, and other people working in healthcare with direct patient contact, as well as people who had either a Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca jab first time around. 

See our guide for more information on getting a booster shot in Germany.                                           .