Health News

Germany to end free COVID tests to boost jab take-up

Germany will end free coronavirus tests in October, regional leaders and the federal government agreed on Tuesday, in a push to incentivise more people to get vaccinated. COVID-19 tests or proof of vaccination or recovery will be required to access facilities including restaurants, cinemas and gyms, in areas where infection rates rise above a certain […]

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Merkel says jabs in Germany will remain voluntary

Germany is not planning to follow France and other countries in introducing compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations for parts of the population, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday. “We do not intend to go down this road,” Merkel said in Berlin after visiting the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) public health agency. “We are at the beginning of the […]

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German panel gives limited approval for COVID-19 shot for adolescents

FILE PHOTO: General practitioner Julia Erekul-Tschirner prepares dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in her doctor’s practice in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2021. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File PhotoBERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s vaccine advisory committee, known as STIKO, recommended on Thursday that only children and adolescents with pre-existing conditions should be given the coronavirus vaccine […]

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Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 4,917 – RKI

FILE PHOTO: General view of the “Landungsbruecken”, a landing pier for ferries and tourist boats at the harbor, during a lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Hamburg, Germany April 24, 2021. Picture taken April 24, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File PhotoBERLIN (Reuters) – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 4,917 to […]

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Rock on: Germany on track for open air gigs, fans at soccer games

FILE PHOTO: German Health Minister Jens Spahn addresses a news conference to comment on the current situation amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany May 21, 2021. Stefanie Loos/Pool via REUTERSBERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is on target for outdoor concerts this summer, with social distancing and COVID-19 testing for attendees, and if cases […]

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Rock on: Germany on track for open air gigs, fans at soccer games

FILE PHOTO: German Health Minister Jens Spahn addresses a news conference to comment on the current situation amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Berlin, Germany May 21, 2021. Stefanie Loos/Pool via REUTERSBERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is on target for outdoor concerts this summer, with social distancing and COVID-19 testing for attendees, and if cases […]

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Germany sees drop in virus cases flatten as variant surges

The head of Germany’s disease control agency warned Friday that a decline in new coronavirus cases the country saw has leveled off while the share of cases involving more contagious variants is rising. Robert Koch Institute President Lothar Wieler said Germany may be heading toward another “turning point” in the pandemic after weeks of falling […]

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UK virus variant spreading rapidly in Germany: minister

The UK variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Germany, where it now accounts for more than one in five cases, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday. “The mutation that was first discovered in the UK is particularly worrying… We have to expect that it will now become the dominant variant here,” said […]

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New Zealand regulator approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

FILE PHOTO: A vial and sryinge are seen in front of a displayed Pfizer and Biontech logo in this illustration taken January 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationWELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand medicines regulator Medsafe has provisionally approved the use of a COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and Germany’s BioNTech, the government said […]

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Americans scramble for appointments for second COVID-19 vaccine dose

(Reuters) – As more Americans ready for their second COVID-19 vaccine shot, some patients are falling through the cracks of an increasingly complex web of providers and appointment systems.FILE PHOTO: A healthcare worker prepares a syringe with the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine at a pop-up vaccination site operated by SOMOS Community Care during the coronavirus disease […]