Vaccinations in Germany to start in early 2021, Merkel aide says

An aide to German Chancellor Angela Merkel said COVID-19 vaccinations should begin in the country in the first few days of 2021.

Helge Braun, chief of staff to Merkel and himself a medical doctor, said he will also inform medical authorities he is available to help with the process personally, according to The Associated Press.

“That won’t work at every hour of the day or night as chief of staff, but at the weekend I’m prepared to join in,” he told German newspaper Bild, the AP noted. Braun added that he and Merkel will receive the vaccine once it was “our turn.”

Germany, considered one of the countries that best handled the coronavirus wave in the spring, saw spikes in recent months, like much of Europe. German officials reimposed some shutdown measures Nov. 2., although schools remained open, unlike the initial lockdown. German officials on Monday said they had recorded 12,332 new cases in the previous 24 hours, up from 11,168 a week before. Overall infection rates have largely plateaued since the partial lockdown was reinstated, according to the AP.

Germany has seen a total of 1.19 million cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and just under 19,000 deaths from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The U.K., the first country to approve Pfizer’s vaccine candidate, is set to begin vaccinations on Tuesday. The European Union’s drug regulators are set to make a determination on approval of it by Dec. 29. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, is set to hear an application for an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine this week and another for Moderna’s next week.

Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. have all indicated that front-line health care workers and vulnerable demographics such as the elderly would be prioritized for the initial vaccine shipments.