“I have been working for days to get rid of the vaccine shortage,” Lauterbach told public broadcaster AFD. “But indeed, we do not have enough vaccines.”
The announcement comes as Germany battles a surge in cases that has pushed Europe back to the epicenter of the pandemic, with the newly discovered Omicron variant driving the rise.
Last week, Germany recorded its highest number of daily deaths from Covid-19 since February.
Yet the percentage of fully vaccinated residents has remained at just under 70 percent for weeks. Few people are receiving their first vaccination, with the majority of vaccinations now booster shots.
Meanwhile, the country’s vaccination campaign for children ages five to eleven started on Tuesday.