German vaccine commission recommends boosters for over-12s
January 13, 2022
Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) suggested on Thursday that all children between the ages of 12 and 17 be given a COVID-19 booster shot.
Though the proposal has to clear several bureaucratic hurdles before it becomes an official recommendation, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has already told parents to organize boosters for their children and not wait until the declaration is rubber-stamped.
Teens will be given an "age-appropriate dose...three months or more" after their last jab, according to the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's infectious disease health agency.
The recommendation also stipulates that this age group should only be given the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine.
As Europe buckles under the weight of the omicron surge, Germany is seeing increasing infections among young people and school teachers after many pupils across the country returned to in-person learning last fall.
The RKI recorded 86,232 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, for a total of 7.7 million infections across the country. The rate of hospitalizations is 3.09 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Germany lags behind many of its EU neighbors in its vaccine campaign, with 72.3% of the population having received a full course of an initial vaccination and 45% having received a booster.
STIKO is an independent expert committee created by the RKI in 1972.
es/sms (dpa, Reuters)