Hartmut Schubert
Six weeks after Germany began vaccinating against swine flu, only about five percent of the population has gotten the shots. The government might now donate or sell some of the vaccine, Deutsche Welle reported Dec. 8.
Germany is considering donating or selling 2.2 million shots of H1N1-flu vaccine to other countries after fewer Germans than expected lined up for protection against the influenza.
The government had ordered 50 million doses earlier this year for its population of about 80 million at a time when it was thought that people would need two apiece.
It later became clear that one shot of the A (H1N1) influenza vaccine would be enough.
When the vaccine first arrived in November, millions of worried Germans lined up for hours for free shots. Now, however, demand has dwindled and doctors must persuade skeptical Germans to roll up their sleeves for the shot.
Hartmut Schubert, a senior official at the Thuringia state Health Ministry, told the Westfalen Blatt newspaper that it makes sense to pass on the vaccine in the framework of development aid. He said the vaccines could be donated and that there had been requests from Afghanistan and Eastern European countries, including Ukraine.
Selling the vaccine, Schubert added, was another possibility.
The federal states have made it clear they don’t want to foot the cost of the superfluous vaccine alone, and are urging support from the government in Berlin. By the end of November, 9.6 million doses had been delivered to Germany; the shipments will add up to 50 million by the end of March.
Despite the fact that the number of cases has declined, doctors forecast a resurgence of swine flu in 2010.
“There is no reason to suppose this virus has become any less dangerous,” Federal Health Minister Philipp Roesler said Dec. 7 following talks with national groups representing doctors and health insurers.
So far, 86 people have died in Germany of H1N1 flu and about 190,000 have been confirmed infected. There can be a second wave, or even mutations of the virus, warned Christoph Fuchs, manager of the German Medical Association.
