COVID-19 cases are rising at an “exponential rate” in Germany and there may not be enough vaccine doses to prevent a third wave, German Health Minister Jens Spahn warned at a news conference Friday, Deutsche Welle said.
Why it matters: The deteriorating health situation means that Germany may need to consider tougher measures and halt reopening plans, Spahn noted.
- On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to meet with the governors of the 16 German states, where they will discuss the possibility of another lockdown, NPR reports.
What they say: “There are not yet enough vaccine doses in Europe to stop the third wave through vaccination alone,” said Spahn.
- “Even if the deliveries of EU orders come out reliably, it will still take a few weeks for the at-risk groups to be fully vaccinated.”
- “The increasing number of cases may mean that we cannot take any further steps to open up in the coming weeks. On the contrary, we may even have to back down,” said Spahn.
He added that he would be in favor of Germany signing an agreement with Russia to obtain doses of its Sputnik V vaccine.
- “I’m actually very much in favor of us doing it at a national level if the European Union doesn’t do something.”
The big picture: On Friday, Lars Schaade, vice president of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, warned that the spread of COVID-19 variants means that there are “difficult weeks ahead”.
- “It’s very possible that during Easter we will have a situation similar to pre-Christmas, with very high numbers of cases, many serious cases and deaths and hospitals being overwhelmed.”
What to watch: Experts have warned that the rising number of cases in Europe may soon be reflected in the US