Germany has thrown away 83 million vaccine doses and is preparing to scrap another 120 million at a cost of around €4 billion ($4.5bn) after the number of Germans willing to get “boosters” has plummeted.
The country scrapped 29 million doses in the first quarter of 2023 and discarded another 54 million by the end of 2022. The number is likely to be higher, however. Germany’s health ministry failed to provide the amount scrapped in the second quarter of 2023, telling POLITICO: “Accordingly, a total volume of total disposed COVID-19 vaccine doses acquired by the Federal Republic of Germany cannot be quantified.”
Germany has another 120 million doses in stock yet will no doubt be forced to discard those too. Despite having one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe – 228.68 per 100 people – the number of Germans willing to get COVID-19 vaccines is as low as 268 per week, with no signs of that changing.
However, European Union (EU) countries are expecting another delivery of around 260 million doses, following a recent deal negotiated between the EU Commission and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The deal will see vaccine deliveries spread across the next four years, ending in 2027.
The deal created a strong backlash from multiple EU countries, including Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, and Romania. The Polish Health Minister Adam Niedzielski called the agreement between the EU and Pfizer “outrageous” and announced publicly that “we are not going to join the deal.”
