As of December 19, a total of around 151 million doses of corona vaccine were stored in the federal central warehouse, the spokesman said. At the same time, there are still purchase commitments for a further 130.7 million doses of vaccine by the end of 2023.

The basis for these obligations are common European purchase agreements. The EU Commission has already expressed concern about a billion-dollar surplus of unneeded corona vaccines. The Commission supports calls from member states for renegotiations with manufacturers, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told the newspapers of the Funke media group on Friday. These should serve to "adapt the supply contracts to new realities".

Kyriakides announced a meeting of the European Vaccine Steering Committee for early next year. She wants to consult with the health ministers of the EU countries and the manufacturers on how the vaccine supply can be further adapted to local needs.

The federal government's negotiations were based on the "principle of good faith," the ministry spokesman told AFP. In contract law, this legal principle means that contracting parties not only have to fulfill the obligations stipulated in a contract, but also have to take other legitimate interests of the contracting party into account.

The demand for corona vaccinations in Germany is currently very low. According to information from the Robert Koch Institute on Friday, only around 22,500 vaccinations per day were administered on average over the past seven days. At the peak of the vaccination campaign last year, values ​​of well over one million vaccinations per day were still being achieved.