Germany misses 80% vaccination target by end of January

The German government is set to miss a target of giving at least one shot of coronavirus vaccine to 80% of the population by the end of January

BERLIN -- The German government is set to miss a target of giving at least one shot of coronavirus vaccine to 80% of the population by the end of January.

With one day to go before the end of the month, official statistics on Monday showed that 75.8% of Germany's 83 million residents have received at least one shot, 74% are fully vaccinated and 52.8% have also received a booster.

The target “has been missed,” government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit acknowledged at a regular news conference. The vaccination rate is “significantly better than it was before, but it isn't 80%.”

Causes include unwillingness to get vaccinated and "perhaps also communication weaknesses,” Hebestreit said. He noted that the pace of vaccinations, which in December sometimes topped 1 million per day, slowed over Christmas and hasn't recovered as much as officials hoped. Over the past week, an average 351,000 shots per day were administered.