Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has urged at-risk individuals to be vaccinated ahead of the holiday season
FILE PHOTO. Medical staff member inoculates an elderly patient with a COVID-19 booster vaccine © Getty Images / Jens Schlueter
German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has said it is the “optimal time” for people to receive newly adapted coronavirus vaccinations, as he urged people to get their shots before the Christmas holidays.
Speaking at a meeting on Monday dedicated to the long-term health effects of Covid-19, the minister argued that the danger currently posed by the virus was being “underestimated.” He also lamented that the take-up rate of newly adapted booster shots has thus far been disappointing.
“The problem of long Covid has not yet been solved,” Lauterbach said, stressing that the infection was not a simple cold and posed a real threat to people with chronic health issues.
Germany has seen a spike in coronavirus cases over the last week. According to figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), there have been 23,265 infections reported in the country in the past seven days, compared to around 13,000 in the previous six weeks.
The head of the RKI, Lars Schaade, has admitted however that the current level of cases does not carry the same significance as at the height of the pandemic, citing the population’s raised immunity through prior infections and vaccinations.
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Meanwhile, one of the largest Covid vaccine producers, Pfizer, has been hit with a lawsuit in the US state of Texas over accusations that it misrepresented the effectiveness of its coronavirus shots and sought to suppress public discussion of the product’s failures.
“Pfizer engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement, arguing the company had illicitly made billions of dollars in profit.
Pfizer has dismissed the allegations, arguing that the lawsuit has “no merit” and insisting the company is “deeply committed” to its patients and customers.
