Germany has bought 5 million unused vaccine doses for booster shots from Romania as it reported a record number of cases since the start of the pandemic.
The number of new coronavirus infections in Germany crossed the 80,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday.
Health authorities registered 80,430 cases in the last 24 hours, according to figures from the Robert Koch Institute.
The latest infection tally was up by more than 21,500 from a week before.
A total of 384 deaths were also recorded in the country within the last 24 hours.
Germany obtained an additional 5 million doses of BioNTech-Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to bolster the country’s booster campaign, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has confirmed, DW reported.
The shots were purchased from Romania, which had obtained them through the European Union’s vaccine procurement scheme but remained unused. Romania’s vaccination rate is about 40%, the second lowest in the EU after Bulgaria.
The doses will be available from January 24.
Covid-19 cases soar in Romania to near 10-week high, Bucharest near red scenario
