Everyone will be jabbed, recovered, or die by winter's end: German minister

BERLIN (AA) - Germany’s health minister on Monday sounded alarm about the surge in coronavirus infections, and urged everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and receive their booster shots.

“Probably by the end of this winter, almost everyone in Germany, will have been either vaccinated, recovered, or died … some are telling this in a cynical way…but it’s indeed the case,” Jens Spahn told a news conference in Berlin.

Germany is struggling through the country’s worst wave of the pandemic, as active COVID-19 cases hit a record high of 637,200 on Monday.

The figure, which is an estimate of the number of people who are currently sick, has exceeded the peaks of the previous three waves of the pandemic.

Spahn called on those who still have doubts about the jabs to get vaccinated, stressing that this offers strong protection against severe disease from COVID-19.

He also said getting a vaccine is not just a personal choice but a moral and societal responsibility, as unvaccinated allow the virus to spread.

Germany’s vaccination rate remains far behind the 75% goal of the government, which experts say is necessary to prevent an exponential rise in new infections.

Despite public awareness campaigns launched by the government, many are still skeptical about the coronavirus vaccines.

As of Monday, 56.5 million people, or 68% of the country’s population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. So far, nearly 5.8 million booster shots have been administered across the country.