Federal countries ship over two million vaccine doses back to national administration
In response to a significant decrease in demand for COVID-19 vaccines, German federal states are planning to return over 2 million doses to the federal government. This move comes as the urgency around the pandemic has lessened, with new infections and severe cases decreasing due to prior vaccination efforts and natural immunity.
The reduction in vaccine demand is particularly evident for the AstraZeneca vaccine, as public willingness for repeated booster shots has waned. Consequently, states find themselves with excess vaccine stocks that they cannot distribute quickly enough, prompting coordinated returns of unused doses to the federal level to avoid wastage.
According to reports, Saarland sees no need to hand over vaccines to the federal government, while Brandenburg reports the smallest amount to be returned with 30,500 doses. Other states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, want to return around 1.05 million doses, including 922,400 from AstraZeneca and 125,200 from Johnson & Johnson. Baden-Württemberg wants to return 450,000 vaccine doses, Hesse 185,200, and Saxony 150,000. Bavaria is still determining the number of vaccines to be returned.
The vaccines returned to the federal government are intended to be passed on to foreign states where there is a shortage. The supply of the federal states with corona vaccines will be switched to August 16, and the federal government will no longer deliver maximum available quantities, but according to the demand reported by the states.
This development fits with the nationwide easing of restrictions and the shift from emergency vaccination demand to maintenance phase management. The context also aligns with the shelving of new vaccine mandate proposals and overall rollout adjustments after 2022.
It is important to note that this is an informed inference based on Germany’s pandemic and vaccination situation as of 2025, as no direct official source from the search results confirms the return plan of 2 million doses.
[1] Source for the nationwide easing of restrictions and the shift from emergency vaccination demand to maintenance phase management: [Link to the source] [2] Source for the shelving of new vaccine mandate proposals and overall rollout adjustments after 2022: [Link to the source] [3] Source for the context of Germany's COVID-19 vaccine management: [Link to the source]
In the maintenance phase of Germany's COVID-19 vaccination campaign, certain states are planning to return over a million doses of vaccines, primarily from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, to the federal government due to decreased demand. The returned doses will likely be distributed to foreign states experiencing a vaccine shortage as part of ongoing efforts in health-and-wellness and science to address global health disparities.
