Germany plans to end its dependence on COVID vaccine imports from 2022

Germany intends to expand capacities for the production of foreign coronavirus vaccines in its territory to end dependence on imports next year, German government’s vaccination officer Christoph Krupp said in an interview posted in the newspapers of the Funke editorial group.

Report informs, citing TASS, that Krupp said the goal is ‘to achieve a reliable supply of Germany through its production facilities.’ By May, a working group will be created to develop an appropriate concept for the period from 2022, Krupp said.

According to him, not only the German enterprises Biontech and Curevac intend to produce their products in Germany. “Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca also want to work in Germany,” said the commissioner. “We need a whole network of companies that will take different production steps.”

BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer began producing the coronavirus vaccine at a plant in Marburg, Germany, on February 10. It is planned to produce about 750 million doses per year there. It will take several months before the plant reaches total capacity.