Merkel Says All Germans to Be Offered Vaccine by End of Summer

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel promised all Germans a vaccine by the end of September, even if new shots aren’t approved.

Europe’s largest economy will have sufficient supplies despite earlier delivery delays, the German leader said on Monday after crisis talks with pharmaceutical executives, state premiers and European Commission officials.

“There will be no shortage of money or commitment” to meet the target, she said, adding that current production plans don’t allow for a more aggressive rollout.

Merkel has come under fire after pushing for the European Commission to take the lead on vaccine purchasing, prompting criticism that delegating responsibility to Brussels slowed down national inoculation programs.

Germany has vaccinated about 2.8 out of every 100 people, compared with 9.7 in the U.S. and over 14 in the U.K., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. While Britain and America began immunizing several weeks earlier thanks to quicker approval, Germany appears to be proceeding more slowly in part due to supply issues.

Some relief is on the way. Bayer AG agreed on Monday to produce CureVac NV’s experimental shots. While the move won’t have an immediate effect, it’s at least some good news after a week of chaos surrounding Europe’s program.

The controversy escalated after the European Commission threatened curbs on vaccine exports -- sparking global anger -- in response to AstraZeneca Plc’s announcement that it would miss delivery targets.

Bayer’s production effort extends its current pact with CureVac -- a German start-up that got investment from Merkel’s government last year -- on regulatory clearance and global distribution. Delivery will start at the end of the year.

Read more: EU’s Push for Vaccine Supplies Gets Help From Bayer Agreement

The effort follows commitments from fellow European pharma giants Sanofi and Novartis AG to put their manufacturing capacities behind scaling up Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s Covid-19 injection, as authorities push for more capacity to ease the crisis.

Germany’s federal and regional governments are planning to create a permanent “vaccine unit” charged with smoothing communications on the country’s inoculation strategy, magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday, without identifying the source of its information.

The unit, led by the health ministry, is likely to be approved at the next round of talks Merkel holds with regional leaders, the magazine said. Bavaria Premier Markus Soeder said Monday that meeting will probably be on Feb. 10, a few days before the current restrictions are due to expire.

“Other countries and other regions of the world could be vaccinated more quickly, but that doesn’t help us,” said Soeder, a leading contender to succeed Merkel after September elections, adding that the next six months will be a “stress test” for the people. Government spokespeople declined to comment .

While Germany’s contagion rate has been declining, it is still nearly double the target that the government has said would allow room to ease curbs, which have been gradually tightened since early November. The measures include closing schools, non-essential stores and limiting movement in hard-hit areas.

Political pressure has been growing on Merkel over the stumbling vaccine rollout. The Social Democrats, her junior coalition partners, suggested that the government may need to take stronger action to ensure there are enough supplies.

Read more: Merkel’s Hand Prints Are All Over Germany’s Vaccine Failings

If the government can’t ensure adequate vaccine supply, then an alternative strategy must be found, Carsten Schneider, a deputy head of the SPD caucus in parliament, said Monday on Twitter. “This includes the use of all available production capacity and patents,” he said. Authorities have all but ruled out forced licensing.

The video call in Berlin -- joined by two EU commissioners, six cabinet members, 16 state premiers and numerous pharma-industry executives and health officials -- comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that Astra will deliver 9 million additional vaccine doses to the EU in the first quarter.

Read more: Von Der Leyen Blames EU Trade Chief for Vaccine Export Gaffe

The Astra debacle highlights how tenuous such commitments are. The drugmaker triggered a crisis on Jan. 22 when it said that problems at a plant in Belgium meant deliveries of doses this quarter would be significantly curtailed.

The episode deteriorated into a bruising blame game that pitted the 27-nation EU against the pharmaceutical industry, and triggered fears about a wave of vaccine nationalism that could hinder efforts to fight the pandemic and delay economic recoveries.

“We negotiated the best possible deals with all companies to ensure access to vaccines,” EU health chief Stella Kyriakides said at the meeting, noting that a target to get 70% of adults inoculated by the end of the summer is still within reach. “We will have enough doses for all our citizens,” she said, according to a transcript of her remarks.

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