The coronavirus vaccine

Vaccination rates in Europe

Find out how many people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in European countries.

Status:

Data source: interaktiv.morgenpost.de.

When can I get the coronavirus vaccine?

Germany has been administering the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine since its approval on December 27, 2020. Since then, several other vaccines have been and are being approved. After initially prioritizing vaccination by risk groups, Germany has now offered every adult the opportunity to get vaccinated.

STIKO now recommends that all adults get a booster shot 3 months after the second vaccination. Risk groups should continue to be given priority. Children are also increasingly being included in the STIKO's vaccination recommendations.

Furthermore, the EU Commission declared at the end of December 2021 that vaccination certificates will only be valid in the EU for nine months if not followed by a booster shot. This regulation will come into force on February 1, 2022 if not vetoed by any of the EU member states.

It remains important to follow all recommendations from local authorities on hygiene measures and social distancing.

Important vaccine news and studies

It is true that the Coronavirus vaccines have now been in use for many months. Nevertheless, new scientific studies emerge on a regular basis which are groundbreaking for the assessment and evaluation of the various vaccines. This is because new virus variants in particular can continuously change the facts. 

Here you will find an overview of the most important study results:

Study: Vaccine and course of disease

Because no COVID-19 vaccine is 100 percent effective, isolated infections may occur in fully vaccinated individuals. However, these so-called "breakthrough infections" are usually accompanied by milder symptoms or no symptoms at all.

Study 1 and 2

Study: How contagious are vaccinated Persons?

Vaccinated people have a lower risk of contracting COVID-19 than unvaccinated people. However, when vaccinated people become infected, they are similarly contagious as unvaccinated people are to other people. The viral load in the throat is then also comparable.

Study 1,  and 2

Study: Does the vaccine protect against the Delta variant?

In preventing symptomatic infections, the efficacy of the Coronavirus vaccine is lower for the delta variant than for previous virus types. However, studies show that the vaccine's efficacy against severe courses of disease, hospitalizations, and deaths remains very high.

Study 1 and 2

Study: Vaccine risks and side effects

Harmless, short-lasting vaccination reactions such as shoulder pain or fever are common with all of the various Coronavirus vaccines. In contrast, the risk of serious side effects such as myocarditis or thrombosis is rare and is continuously monitored by the Paul Ehrlich Institute.

Study 1 and PEI-Bericht

Study: Effectiveness of BioNTech

With regard to "symptomatic cases", the efficacy of a completed vaccination series with BioNTech is 88.0 % in the case of the delta variant. With regard to "hospitalizations", the figure is as high as 96 %.

Study 1 and 2

Study: Effectiveness of Moderna

The efficacy of a completed vaccination series with Moderna is 73.1 % in relation to the risk of infection with the delta variant. With regard to severe or even fatal courses, the efficacy is 96.1 %. 

Study 1

The following figure shows the current status of coronavirus vaccine development:

Vaccine development

Vaccine development follows a standard set of steps: In the first step, which takes place in the laboratory, researchers identify which structures on the pathogen (disease-causing microorganism) can elicit a sufficient response in the human immune system. Since a vaccine is a highly modified form of the pathogen, there is no risk of infection.

As with all medicines, we need to ensure that vaccines are safe and effective. During the clinical phases, the vaccine is tested on increasingly large groups of people in clinical trials. Only a fraction of vaccines are approved following careful testing in these trials.

Due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, some researchers are accelerating the vaccine development process by combining Phase 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 clinical trials. Fast-tracking approval is also possible in emergency situations.

Vaccine development process

Source

Will the coronavirus vaccine be mandatory?

In December 2021, an amendment to the Infection Protection Act was officially passed by the German parliament. Accordingly, from mid-March 2022, vaccination will be mandatory in Germany for employees of facilities where people at particular risk from Covid-19 are treated or cared for. This applies, for example, to old people's homes, hospitals, facilities for people with disabilities, day clinics, doctors' offices, emergency services and socio-educational centers. However, there is currently no consensus for making vaccination mandatory for all citizens.

Who should get vaccinated?

Coronavirus vaccines are the safest way to effectively protect yourself and others from a severe course of the disease. All vaccines approved in Germany have previously undergone rigorous testing for safety and efficacy. The Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) therefore recommends that all adults get vaccinated, unless they have preexisting health reasons for not getting vaccinated. Such medical exemptions must be discussed with a physician on an individual basis. Corona vaccines are now approved for all 5- to 17-year-olds, according to the EMA. Further information and updates on the RKI's vaccine recommendations can be found here.

COVID-19 vaccination for pregnant women – Yes or No?

The STIKO of the RKI recommends COVID-19 vaccinations for unvaccinated pregnant women beginning in the 2nd trimester as well as for unvaccinated breastfeeding women. The first and second dose should be administered using BioNTech's mRNA vaccine ("Comirnaty"). Breastfeeding women under 30 years of age should also receive the BioNTech vaccine. For older breastfeeding women (30 years and older), Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine ("Spikevax") is also acceptable according to the STIKO.

In addition, the STIKO recommends that pregnant and breastfeeding women receive a booster vaccination, as is the case for all persons over the age of 18. For this, at least 3 months should have passed since the last vaccine dose has been administered. For pregnant women, the recommendation applies beginning in the second trimester.

All recommendations were developed by the STIKO after extensive analysis of all available studies and considering all possible risks. One of the main reasons is that pregnancy is a relevant risk factor for severe COVID-19. More background can be found here.

What are the potential side effects?

The top priority in the whole approval process is making sure these vaccines are safe. Investigating side effects is one of the most important research questions in clinical trials. Different vaccination types might have different side effects. You can find more detailed information here.

Some rare side effects may only become apparent after the vaccine has been approved. For this reason, vaccines are monitored even after approval. As with all medicines, anyone – not just doctors – can report side effects directly to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute.