Germany: Older people to get first COVID-19 vaccines

BERLIN (AA) - Adults over 80 will get the COVID-19 vaccine first in Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Spahn said his ministry has identified the groups that will be prioritized for the vaccination, which is scheduled to start next week.

"We will offer vaccinations first to those who urgently need this protection, the care home residents, those over 80, and the staff there," he said, adding that these were the people at the highest risk of suffering from the novel coronavirus.

Nearly 50% of those who died from the disease in Germany so far were people over the age of 80, he also said.

Frontline health and social care workers were among those to receive the first vaccines.

The second priority group identified by the ministry for the vaccination included adults over the age of 70, people with dementia, and transplant patients.

People over 60 years old, chronically ill patients, and public sector employees working under high risk were included in the third priority group.

Germany is planning to begin coronavirus vaccinations on Dec. 27, if European regulators approve BioNTech and Pfizer's vaccine next week.

The country reported a record 33,777 coronavirus cases on Friday, up from 26,923 reported in the previous day.

Currently, it has the fifth-highest tally of coronavirus infections in Europe, behind France, Spain, the UK, and Italy.

The national total now stands at over 1.43 million cases with at least 24,938 deaths.