Berlin to scrap priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations from Monday

The prioritisation of vaccine doses according to age, preexisting health conditions, or jobs, is set to be scrapped in Berlin, leaving general practitioners and company doctors free to distribute the vaccines to all adults. 

Berlin makes coronavirus vaccine available to all adults

Berlin will lift the vaccine priority list from Monday, meaning that, in principle, anyone who wants to get vaccinated against COVID-19 can do so from next week. The same step has been taken in other federal states, including Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg. 

However - and this applies to the whole of Germany - the lifting of the priority list does not mean that everyone will be able to get vaccinated immediately. There simply aren’t enough available doses. 

Appointments given according to GPs’ discretion

Instead, doctors in Berlin will apportion vaccine appointments at their own discretion, or on a first-come, first-served basis. However, if a patient belongs to one of the three priority groups and has not yet been vaccinated, they should still have priority over others. 

From June, Germany is expecting to receive significantly more vaccine doses - as many as five to six million per week.