Germany, UK to Offer COVID-19 Booster Shots to Certain Groups From September

A man gets his vaccination with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the district vaccination center in Ludwigsburg, southern Germany, on Aug. 3, 2021. (Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany and the UK have both announced plans to offer a COVID-19 booster shot as soon as next month.

The booster shot in Germany will be prioritized for those deemed to be more at risk, such as people who don’t have strong immune systems or the immunocompromised, from next month, while in the UK, some 32 million booster shots are set to be made available tentatively on Sept. 6.

Meanwhile in Israel, a third booster shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was offered to citizens aged 60 and above last week, with the rollout fully kicking off on Sunday.

The drive comes as governments around the world attempt to mitigate the spread of the so-called Delta variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Last month, Israel’s health ministry twice reported a drop in vaccine efficacy—as well as a slight decrease in protection against severe disease.

In Germany, vaccinations will be done using mRNA-vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, regardless of what was used previously, health ministers said after talks with Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn.

Spahn said after a meeting with the health ministers that “we keep our promise: everybody who wants can get vaccinated in the summer—we have enough vaccines for all age groups.”

“Therefore, children and teenagers … can decide to get vaccinated after a medical consultation and thus protect themselves and others,” Spahn added.

The health ministers also agreed to make vaccination available to all children aged 12 to 17, as schools begin to open again. About 10 percent of the 4.5 million children in this age group have been fully vaccinated.

In Britain, booster shots will initially be given to the immunocompromised, National Health Service workers and care home staff, The Daily Telegraph reported.

It comes after the country’s health department announced in June that it planned to make booster shots available to citizens aged 70 and above and those who are believed to be more at risk, following recommendations by the country’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization.

No such plans have been announced in the United States, however Biden administration officials last month signaled that certain groups will need COVID-19 booster shots.

The CDC’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Amanda Cohn told an advisory panel that government officials are “actively looking into ways” to let the immunocompromised gain access to boosters.