Omicron cases in Germany up 26% in one day: RKI

Berlin, Dec 30 (IANS) Covid-19 infections with the Omicron variant in Germany increased by 2,686, or nearly 26 per cent within one day to a total of 13,129, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases has said.

More than 6,060 of the laboratory-confirmed Omicron cases in Germany were recorded in the 15-34 years age group, and nearly 4,320 cases were identified in the 35-59 years age group, according to the RKI on Wednesday.

The country's minister presidents are scheduled to meet again on January 7 next year to evaluate the current Covid-19 measures, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nearly one year after Germany's Covid-19 vaccination campaign began, 71 per cent of citizens had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, according to official figures.

"Due to the spread of the Omicron variant, it is now particularly important to get the full vaccine protection," the country's Ministry of Health said on Twitter, stressing that booster shots with an mRNA vaccine can lead to significantly improved immune protection.

Also on Wednesday, Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze said the government aims to donate at least 75 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries next year without slowing down its own vaccination campaign.

"We must do everything we can to end the pandemic as quickly as possible," Schulze told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland.

"The key to ending it is to give people around the world access to vaccines."

Germany has purchased one million units of the Paxlovid drug against Covid-19 from the US company Pfizer. The first batches are expected to be delivered in January, according to local media reports.