Mr Spahn, there is criticism from the opposition and academia of the federal government’s vaccination strategy. The Leopoldina member Frauke Zipp spoke of a gross failure of those responsible. Much more vaccine at risk should have been ordered in the summer, says the neurologist. What do you think of these allegations?
Jens Spahn: The problem is not the quantity ordered. We have ordered enough. The problem is the low production capacity at the beginning – with extremely high demand worldwide. We made that transparent from the start. I’ve been saying for weeks that we expect four million doses of Biontech vaccine by the end of January. It was known that it would be tight at the beginning and that we had to prioritize. That is why we asked the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), the Ethics Council and the Leopoldina to come up with suggestions on who should be vaccinated first. We are now implementing this and are starting vaccinating, especially in nursing homes.
Nevertheless, everyone is dissatisfied….
Spahn: I understand the impatience. But these are days of confidence. We shouldn’t spoil each other now. Vaccination paves the way out of the pandemic. And we are now treading this path together. We will be able to vaccinate more people step by step and gradually get back to normal.
Is the vaccine sufficient for this prognosis?
Spahn: We have ordered enough vaccine for Germany and the EU. The question of how quickly the vaccine is available at the beginning is not related to the total amount ordered. Especially since we rely on seven different manufacturers in Europe. The facts are mixed up there. Biontech and Pfizer had communicated very early on that by the end of 2020 no more than 50 million doses of the vaccine could be pre-produced to meet global requirements.
But speed is also important. Should there be a German solo effort to approve the Oxford / Astra-Zeneca vaccine if necessary?
Spahn: The Moderna vaccine will be approved this week. There, too, lower quantities are to be expected initially, but we have secured 50 million cans for Germany across Europe. The European approval authorities and the Paul Ehrlich Institute are currently checking the data from Astra-Zeneca.
So not a German go it alone?
Spahn: Rapid European approval would be ideal.
According to your company, around 1.3 million vaccine doses had been delivered by Biontech by December 30th. On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute announced that around 188,500 vaccinations had been reported to him. How does that fit together?
Spahn: With the decision to vaccinate in nursing homes first, it was clear that things would start more slowly. Mobile teams have to be deployed there, which is more time-consuming than in the vaccination center. But I am very confident that the federal states will offer all residents in nursing homes a vaccination offer in January. If many in the homes get vaccinated, the pandemic has already lost some of its horror. Because the virus is particularly raging there. There are also differences between the federal states. For some, the vaccination campaign starts faster than for others.
What can the federal government do to speed up the process?
Spahn: The scarce vaccine is still the limiting factor. We will have to be patient with one another at the beginning. The countries choose different routes, partly by letter or telephone appointment. It was a very conscious decision of the federal states that there is no uniform national approach, but rather this different approach. Now this decision must be implemented in the best possible way together.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder is in favor of having the vaccine manufactured “even under license from other companies in Germany” if possible, in order to accelerate the vaccination campaign. A feasible way?
Spahn: Not if we want more vaccine really fast. The production of vaccines is very complex and expensive, especially with the completely new mRNA technology. We support Biontech in finding additional partners and in being able to start further production in Marburg in February. There are no unused production facilities in Germany or Europe. Unfortunately, pill production cannot simply be converted to vaccines.
Do you offend the allegations of the opposition, but also those of your coalition partner?
Spahn: Criticism is part of it. But it is quite interesting that the FDP, along with the left, is calling for a quasi nationalization of the vaccine company. We have a vaccine precisely because there are competitive companies. Incidentally, it makes me think that even parties that sing the Internationale at their party congress and invoke European solidarity now, in this pandemic of the century, want to play the card of Germany going it alone.
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