Germany to give all willing a first coronavirus shot by end July, early August

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Reuters
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BERLIN: Germany expects everyone willing to be vaccinated to have received a first dose of a COVID-19 shot by the end of July or early August, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff said on Thursday.

"Given the supplies we have and depending on how high vaccination willingness is, we can expect that by the end of July and beginning of August everyone who wants to will have received their first vaccination," Helge Braun told ARD television.

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Braun said high vaccination rates and levels of immunity against the virus will be decisive against the Delta variant, which he expects will be dominant in Germany within weeks. 

The share of COVID-19 infections caused by the more easily transmitted Delta variant of the coronavirus has doubled in Germany in a week and is likely to gain more traction over other variants, the Robert Koch Institute public health agency said on Wednesday.