Germany have disclosed that it plans to start offering COVID-19 booster shots to the elderly and at-risk from September.
According to the health ministry, concerns over ‘a reduced or rapidly declining immune response’ among some groups is the reason behind the move.
The booster shot — either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna — will also be offered to anyone who received the two-dose Astrazeneca or single-dose Johnson & Johnson jabs, the health ministry said, ‘in the interests of preventative healthcare’.
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The move comes as the contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues its rapid spread and tests suggest vaccine efficacy fades after time.
Africa Daily News, New York reports that Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn and the country’s 16 state health ministers also voted to recommend vaccinating all 12-17-year-olds, a move that exceeds guidelines set out by the country’s vaccine regulator STIKO.
‘We have enough vaccine for all. That’s why it’s good that the states also want to make vaccines easily available to this age group’ said Spahn.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
