Covid mutation in Germany threatens lockdown extensions into March

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz ‘angry’ at slow pace of supply of vaccines

Passengers wear face masks as they wait for a commuter train in Berlin. Germany was successful at suppressing the virus early in the pandemic. Reuters

Germany may extend its lockdown into March to tackle the spread of a more contagious variant of the virus.

Any easing of restrictions at some schools or daycare centres will depend on local infection rates, German media reported on Saturday.

The highly infectious mutation first found in England has spread to 13 of the 16 federal states and is expected to become the dominant strain.

Germany’s infection rate per 100,000 people has fallen to 79.9, but health officials want a rate below 50 before lockdown restrictions can be lifted.

The bottleneck lies elsewhere

“The situation is far from under control,” said Prof Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said: “The virus is not tired yet. On the contrary, it has just received another boost.”

German and French leaders on Friday defended the EU against accusations it has mishandled delivering vaccines to member states.

Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded that “production capacities are not as large as we had imagined”.

On Saturday, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said more Covid vaccines should have been ordered in 2020.

People line up to enter Treptow Arena Berlin vaccine center to receive the first stage of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

A beach cafe is closed due to the lockdown at the pier in Scharbeutz, northern Germany. AP Photo

People line up to enter Treptow Arena Berlin vaccine center in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

A staff member poses with a box containing vaccine doses in Hamburg, northern Germany. EPA

People walk on a bridge in Zaryadye Park, with the Kremlin and St. Basil Cathedral in the background, in Moscow, Russia. AP Photo

Backdropped by the Gibraltar rock, people wearing face masks walk along the stalls of a weekly market at the Spanish city of La Linea. AP Photo

A healthcare worker works at the Covid-19 Emergency Ward of the San Filippo Neri Hospital in Rome, Italy. EPA

A tourist guide gives a virtual tour at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. Reuters

A nurse fills a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine in Montpellier in the south of France. AFP

A doctor prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for a resident at Antoine Balmes hospital in Montpellier, France. EPA

“I’m angry about some of the decisions that were taken last year,” Mr Scholz said. “I think there had been the opportunity to order more of the vaccines.”

EU countries have so far given first doses to about 4 per cent of their populations, compared with 11 per cent for the US and almost 17 per cent for Britain.

In an opinion piece to run in Sunday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was misleading to suggest that sealing vaccine contracts earlier would have hastened delivery.

“The bottleneck lies elsewhere. Producing a new vaccine is an incredibly complex business,” she wrote. “Among the hundreds of components needed, important ingredients are in short supply worldwide”.