The STIKO recommends the fourth corona vaccination only for people over 70 and certain risk groups. Minister of Health Lauterbach recently stated that he also thinks it makes sense for younger people. Now he clarifies: He didn’t mean that as a general instruction.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach does not want earlier statements on the fourth corona vaccination to be understood as a recommendation for all younger people. “I didn’t say: The fourth vaccination for everyone,” said the SPD politician on ZDF’s “heute journal”. “I never said that all younger people should get vaccinated now. That’s just wrong.”
The minister commented on the fourth corona vaccination in a “Spiegel” interview in mid-July and said that if you wanted to enjoy the summer without the risk of illness, then he would “of course recommend the vaccination to younger people in consultation with the family doctor”. This means that the long-Covid risk is “significantly reduced for a few months”, as is the risk of infection. Criticism came a few days later from the head of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO), Thomas Mertens. He did not know any data that justified such advice, he told the “Welt am Sonntag”.
He only pointed out that a clear message was needed for the different age groups, such as those under 60, Lauterbach said. In his opinion, risk patients should not wait for the adapted vaccines: Waiting is “simply wrong for those who are now at risk,” he said on ZDF. In the case of younger people, however, it could make sense “to wait a little longer” and be treated with the new vaccines, Lauterbach specified in the ARD “Tagesthemen”.
The Standing Vaccination Committee STIKO currently only recommends a fourth corona vaccination for people over the age of 70 and some professional and risk groups. Leading EU authorities have called for a second booster shot for everyone over 60.
