Vaccine production task force set up

25.02.2021 11:32

Following a decision by the Federal Ministry of Economics, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Finance and in coordination with the Federal Chancellery, a State Secretaries' Committee and a Vaccine Production Task Force were officially set up on February 24, 2021.

The aim of the newly established State Secretaries' Committee and the new vaccine production task force is to set up monitoring in order to take countermeasures in collaboration with the affected companies should there be bottlenecks in vaccine production. This monitoring affects the entire value chain from the procurement of raw materials to the production and filling of the vaccines, including the necessary vaccination by-products (saline solution, cannulas, etc.). The vaccine production task force also serves as a contact for business and the EU.

The newly appointed State Secretaries' Committee will be headed by the State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Andreas Feicht. In addition to State Secretary Feicht, the State Secretaries' Committee includes: State Secretary Steffen (BMG), State Secretary Gatzer (BMF) and representatives of the Federal Chancellery. The task force for vaccine production will be headed by Dr. Christoph Krupp (Board of the Federal Institute for Real Estate Affairs since 2018). Both committees are temporary.

The State Secretaries' Committee and the Vaccine Production Task Force are primarily intended to advance three goals:

1. In the short term, to support the production processes for the provision of the necessary vaccination doses for all citizens willing to be vaccinated in 2021 according to the current schedule.
2. In the medium term, to support the development of a sufficient industrial structure to supply the population in Germany with mRNA and vector vaccines,
3. and thus also in the medium term to secure the industrial policy goal of expanding Germany's research and production location in the EU for the production of vaccines with novel technologies such as mRNA technology and securing it in the long term.