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COVID-19 VACCINES

Will Curevac’s Covid vaccine delay impact Germany’s jab rollout?

A coronavirus vaccine being developed by Germany's CureVac is facing delays as its late-stage trial is slowed by the wait for enough participants to catch Covid, officials said Friday.

Published: 11 June 2021 16:21 CEST
Will Curevac's Covid vaccine delay impact Germany's jab rollout?
A vaccinato centre in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Peter Kneffel

CureVac initially expected to seek European approval for its jab in the second quarter, with Germany pencilling in 1.4 million doses by end-June.

But Health Minister Jens Spahn told his regional counterparts the regulatory authorisation is now not expected to come before August,
Baden-Württemberg’s health minister Manfred Lucha told AFP, confirming earlier reports.

Lucha, whose state is home to CureVac’s Tübingen headquarters, told local media there were “complications” with the trial.

The German government, which has promised to offer all adults a jab by late September, is no longer counting on CureVac to play a role in the current inoculation drive, according to the Mannheimer Morgen daily.

The German Health Ministry declined to comment further, but said once the vaccine is greenlit “we will include CureVac in the campaign”.

READ ALSO: Almost one in four people in Germany fully vaccinated against Covid

Like the highly effective vaccines developed by faster rivals BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, CureVac’s shot is based on novel mRNA technology.

The German firm, founded in 2000 by mRNA pioneer Ingmar Hoerr, announced in interim results late May that independent analysis “found no safety concerns” with its vaccine.

But efficacy results have yet to be published.

To complete its trial, involving about 40,000 volunteers in Europe and Latin America, CureVac needs at least 111 participants to contract the virus.

It had expected to reach the target and seek authorisation in late May or early June, but dwindling infection rates have slowed proceedings.

A CureVac spokeswoman told AFP the company now expects to have collected enough data “by the end of June”.

The trial is complicated by the spread of virus variants, which was not an issue for the early Covid vaccines.

READ ALSO: Germany is in ‘race to vaccinate’ against Covid Delta variant, warns Merkel

In the CureVac trial, each coronavirus case is genetically sequenced to determine the variant and how effective the shot is against it, a process the firm said was time consuming.

Despite being a laggard in the vaccine race, CureVac believes it has advantages over its mRNA competitors. 

CureVac’s product can be stored at standard refrigerator temperature, unlike the first-generation Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which require
super-cold freezers.

CureVac’s vaccine also needs a lower dosage, allowing for faster and cheaper mass production.

The European Union has secured up to 405 million doses of the CureVac vaccine.

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COVID-19 VACCINES

Italy’s constitutional court upholds Covid vaccine mandate as fines kick in

Judges on Thursday dismissed legal challenges to Italy's vaccine mandate as "inadmissible” and “unfounded”, as 1.9 million people face fines for refusing the jab.

Published: 2 December 2022 12:11 CET
Italy's constitutional court upholds Covid vaccine mandate as fines kick in

Judges were asked this week to determine whether or not vaccine mandates introduced by the previous government during the pandemic – which applied to healthcare and school staff as well as over-50s – breached the fundamental rights set out by Italy’s constitution.

Italy became the first country in Europe to make it obligatory for healthcare workers to be vaccinated, ruling in 2021 that they must have the jab or be transferred to other roles or suspended without pay.

The Constitutional Court upheld the law in a ruling published on Thursday, saying it considered the government’s requirement for healthcare personnel to be vaccinated during the pandemic period neither unreasonable nor disproportionate.

Judges ruled other questions around the issue as inadmissible “for procedural reasons”, according to a court statement published on Thursday.

This was the first time the Italian Constitutional Court had ruled on the issue, after several regional courts previously dismissed challenges to the vaccine obligation on constitutional grounds.

A patient being administered a Covid jab.

Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP

One Lazio regional administrative court ruled in March 2022 that the question of constitutional compatibility was “manifestly unfounded”.

Such appeals usually centre on the question of whether the vaccine requirement can be justified in order to protect the ‘right to health’ as enshrined in the Italian Constitution.

READ ALSO: Italy allows suspended anti-vax doctors to return to work

Meanwhile, fines kicked in from Thursday, December 1st, for almost two million people in Italy who were required to get vaccinated under the mandate but refused.

This includes teachers, law enforcement and healthcare workers, and the over 50s, who face fines of 100 euros each under rules introduced in 2021.

Thursday was the deadline to justify non-compliance with the vaccination mandate due to health reasons, such as having contracted Covid during that period.

Italy’s health minister on Friday however appeared to suggest that the new government may choose not to enforce the fines.

“It could cost more for the state to collect the fines” than the resulting income, Health Minister Orazio Schillaci told Radio Rai 1.

He went on to say that it was a matter for the Economy and Finance Ministry, but suggested that the government was drawing up an amendment to the existing law.

READ ALSO: Covid vaccines halved Italy’s death toll, study finds

The League, one of the parties which comprises the new hard-right government, is pushing for fines for over-50s to be postponed until June 30th 2023.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had promised a clear break with her predecessor’s health policies, after her Brothers of Italy party railed against the way Mario Draghi’s government handled the pandemic in 2021 when it was in opposition.

At the end of October, shortly after taking office, the new government allowed doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to return to work earlier than planned after being suspended for refusing the Covid vaccine.

There has been uncertainty about the new government’s stance after the deputy health minister in November cast doubt on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, saying he was “not for or against” vaccination.

Italy’s health ministry continues to advise people in at-risk groups to get a booster jab this winter, and this week stressed in social media posts that vaccination against Covid-19 and seasonal flu remained “the most effective way to protect ourselves and our loved ones, especially the elderly and frail”.

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