Germany is living through one of the hardest phases of the coronavirus pandemic, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday.
"The numbers of infections and deaths are still too high, and we need to reduce them," he said in an address to parliament.
More than 750,000 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far in Germany since the start of the inoculation campaign at the end of December, according to Spahn. By summer, the government expects to be able to offer vaccination to everybody, the minister said.
Spahn stressed the importance of cooperation across the 27 EU member states and across Germany's 16 state administrations in tackling the coronavirus pandemic.
"No country, no party, no government can defeat this virus alone; it is only possible together," Spahn said in a speech to the German parliament, in which several parties have criticized the nation's logistical roll-out of vaccinations.
