Overview
- The Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss adopted updated STIKO guidance at the end of October and the COVID booster is no longer generally covered by statutory health insurance for most people.
- Health agencies, citing the Robert Koch Institute's finding that over 95 percent of adults have immunity and that COVID hospitalisations and deaths have declined, framed the change as a public‑health recalibration.
- People aged 75 and older, those with elevated medical risk and certain other groups remain recommended for and effectively covered for an annual booster under the new rule.
- Most insured people now face an out‑of‑pocket cost of roughly €100 for a booster, prompting clinicians to assess vaccine need case by case and raising concerns about financial and access effects for some patients.
- Regional influenza surveillance in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern shows the season starting slowly at about last year’s level, health officials recalled the 2025/26 season with roughly 12,000 cases and 25 deaths and urged urgent flu vaccination for older adults, pregnant people and those with pre‑existing conditions.