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* Coronavirus cases in Germany hit new daily record
* The committee recommends a booster for 12-17 year olds
*Labs say testing demand doubles capacity (changes, BioNTech comments, intensive case counts)
By Riham Alkousaa and Miranda Murray
BERLIN, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Germany’s vaccine committee on Thursday called for all 12- to 17-year-olds to receive a COVID-19 booster shot, as the country reported a new daily record of more than 81,000 coronavirus infections.
The government’s coronavirus crisis manager warned of possible bottlenecks in testing, though Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Germany had the means to handle the situation.
The adoption of booster shots makes Germany one of the first countries in the world to make such a recommendation, after the United States, Israel and Hungary.
“The current situation, with a sharp increase in the number of cases due to the Omicron variant and the feared consequences on the fitness formula in Germany, makes it necessary to expand the vaccination campaign,” the STIKO vaccination committee said.
The third dose will need to be a BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA shot and will need to be given no earlier than 3 months after the child receives their second shot, STIKO said in a statement.
While knowledge about the efficacy and protection of booster vaccination in 12- to 17-year-olds remains limited, the risk of serious side effects is estimated to be very low, he added.
NO REGULATORY APPROVAL
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted regulatory approval, so Germany would be guilty of any liability related to the withdrawal of this age group.
The EMA said this week it was considering whether to extend booster approval for Pfizer’s shots for 16- and 17-year-olds, and expected drugmakers to also order them for the 12- to 15-year-old age group.
BioNTech said it is processing data on booster shots for 12- to 15-year-olds to send to the EMA.
Germany, which is seeking to curb the spread of the Omicron variant that a week ago accounted for about 44% of COVID infections, reported a record 81,417 cases on Thursday, bringing the seven-day incidence to 427. 7 per 100,000 people.
More than 115,000 people have died from COVID-19 and about 45. 1% of the population has received a booster shot.
The head of Germany’s federal coronavirus crisis team, Carsten Breuer, said staff in critical infrastructure sectors would be prioritized if COVID-19 capacity is reduced.
“As with all scarce resources, when necessary we want to group our functions. This also applies to testing,” Breuer told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Health Minister Lauterbach said the booster campaign would help Germany cope with the sharp rise in Omicron infections.
He welcomed the resolution of STIKO, which in the past had been criticized for hesitating to make such recommendations.
Germany’s DIVI body for intensive care and emergency medicine on Thursday released information indicating that other unvaccinated people were doing the same.
accounts for the majority of all COVID-19 cases in intensive care units.
The data, collected between mid-December and Jan. 12 and covering about 90% of all new COVID-19 ICU admissions, showed that 62% of those admitted were unvaccinated. (Reporting via Miranda Murray, Riham Alkousaa and Josephine Mason; additional reporting via Patricia Weis; writing via Madeline Chambers and Riham Alkousaa; editing via Alex Richardson and Gareth Jones)