Germany urges vaccine shots; warns of fall COVID-19 surge

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s top health official has called on more citizens to get vaccinated. He is warning that if the numbers don’t go up, Germany’s hospitals may get overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients toward the end of the year. Health Minister Jens Spahn tweets that “we need at least 5 million vaccinations for a safe autumn and winter.” More than 61% of the German population, or 50.9 million people, are fully vaccinated. However, the daily vaccination rate has been dropping while infection cases have been going up again for weeks. On Saturday, Germany’s disease control agency reported 10,835 new COVID-19 cases, up over 500 from a week ago.