By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Germany is planning to spend an additional 6.22 bln euros this year to buy more COVID-19 vaccines, a finance ministry document seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
The additional money, requested by Health Minister Jens Spahn and greenlighted by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, comes on top of 2.66 billion euros already earmarked in the 2021 budget to buy COVID-19 vaccines, according to the document.
The Health Ministry will use the total funds of 8.89 billion euros ($10.77 billion) to buy up to 635.1 million vaccine doses as part of the European Union’s joint procurement plans and Berlin’s national scheme, the document said. ($1 = 0.8258 euros) (Reporting by Michael Nienaber Editing by Caroline Copley)