“Employees in Kitas, and in primary and special schools can be vaccinated from (Wednesday) by the states,” announced Federal Heath Minister Jens Spahn on Twitter.
Spahn said “additional security” was needed in an environment where distance and masks are not always possible, and where there are numerous social contacts between people from different households.
Since Monday, elementary schools and (Kitas) daycare centres in 10 states have been partially open again.
READ ALSO: ‘The right thing to do’: How Germany is reopening its schools
Hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses from the manufacturer AstraZeneca will likely be used for these vaccine jabs.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 1.4 million doses have been delivered to Germany’s 16 states. However, according to the Robert Koch Institute, only 212,000 doses of these have been used.
The vaccine is approved only for people under 65 years of age due to a lack of data on its effect on the elderly.
There have been several reports of people cancelling appointments for getting the AstraZeneca jab, saying they would prefer the BioNTech/Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Spahn is also hoping to come to an agreement on the allocation of free rapid tests at the next state-federal meeting on March 3rd.
READ ALSO: Germany plans free coronavirus rapid tests for all residents
Vocabulary
Teachers/teaching staff – (die) Lehrkräfte
Vaccine doses – (die) Impfdosen
Approved – zugelassen
Agreement – (die) Einigung
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