Facing massive loss from vaccines, Germany pushes more boosters

Yudi Sherman

November 5, 2023

German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach last week called for more Germans to take the COVID-19 booster injections as the government faces mounting losses from unused vaccines.

“Despite the pandemic and awareness campaigns, the importance of the Covid booster is apparently greatly underestimated,” Lauterbach told Der Spiegel. “So far, unfortunately, only a fraction of those for whom it is recommended have had a booster vaccination.”

Der Spiegel notes that Lauterbach “urgently needs to boost vaccinations” to prevent billions of euros in losses. Earlier this year the government threw out 29 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine after discarding 54 million doses at the end of 2022, resulting in a €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) loss.

As recently as June the German government was sitting on 120 million unused doses and has purchased approximately 14.1 million more for the XBB 1.5 variant. But only 2.5 million people have received at least one booster, leaving the German government facing a total loss of more than €4 billion ($4.3 billion) according to rough estimates.

In his call last week for Germans to get their COVID-19 shots, Lauterbach also urged them to get their flu vaccinations at the same time despite the increased risk of stroke.

A study from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month found that seniors who receive both flu and COVID-19 vaccinations at the same time are at a heightened risk of ischemic stroke. The first warnings came in January when the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced in a joint statement that data from the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) flagged a “possible” connection between receiving both shots at the same time and ischemic strokes in older people.

Nevertheless, Lauterbach has continued to press senior Germans to receive both shots at the same time.

"People from 60 years of age and at-risk groups should get vaccinated, the better even if an influenza shot can go with that," the health minister said in September.