Germany could start administering shots of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as next month, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Sunday, according to Reuters.
“There is reason to be optimistic that there will be approval for a vaccine in Europe this year. And then we can start right away,” he was quoted as having said in an interview with publishing group RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.
Spahn said that he had asked Germany’s federal states to have their vaccination centers ready by mid-December and that this was going well.
Germany has secured more than 300 million vaccine doses via the European Commission, bilateral contracts and options, he added, noting that this was more than enough and even left room to share with other countries.
A report last month indicated that the German government has committed to provide Israel with the option of procuring the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca.
The EU has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to reserve 400 million vaccinations, and according to the Israeli Embassy in Berlin, Germany will insist that Israel, which is an associate member of the EU, will be considered part of the EU.
Spahn’s comments on Sunday follow reports that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine could get the go-ahead in the UK even before the US authorizes it, with hopes of a green light in as little as a week.
On Friday, Pfizer asked the FDA to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine in the US.
The request came days after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that its vaccine appears 95% effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study.