German health minister on COVID vaccine goal

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said Friday that despite its initial success, the vaccination campaign in Germany still needs to "gain momentum".

Spahn said all residents of nursing homes had received an offer of vaccination and said the German strategy of vaccinating the particularly vulnerable first is working, but it takes time.

"Vaccination paves the way out of the pandemic, although it will not be a walk in the park", Spahn warned.

The mutations are making this path more arduous and more difficult, he said.Germany's central disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, warned of a "trend reversal" due to the spreading of the B117 coronavirus variant (UK variant.)

"That is why it is more important than ever that we all continue to implement the measures consistently, that we at least contain and slow down the spread of these viruses. Otherwise, we are heading into another, a third wave," said Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler, president of the institute.