BERLIN (REUTERS) - Germany will exempt people who have had a booster vaccination from having to take a Covid-19 test before entering some leisure facilities, federal and regional health ministers agreed on Tuesday (Dec 14).

       The proposal, agreed by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and ministers from Germany's 16 federal states, is aimed at encouraging people to get a vaccine booster shot and relieving testing capacity.

       However, a negative test result will still be required to enter hospitals and care homes to help protect more vulnerable people, according to the draft, reviewed by Reuters.

       Some 69.9 per cent of the population has had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine and 23.8 per cent has received a booster.

       Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek told reporters that Germany was suffering from a vaccine shortage, and urged the authorities to use "unconventional methods" - including direct contact with manufacturers - to boost supplies. Germany gets most of its vaccines through a joint European Union procurement scheme.

       Currently, people who have had two shots or have recovered must show a negative Covid-19 test to enter places with a high risk of spreading infection, such as nightclubs or discos.

       "Scientific evidence suggests that a booster reduces both the risk of infection and the risk of further transmission. In addition, the lifting of the obligation to take a test could relieve the heavily used test capacity," an earlier draft said.

       Like other European countries, Germany is struggling to curb a fourth wave of the coronavirus. Some 473 people were reported on Tuesday to have died from Covid-19.

       The Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases reported 30,823 new cases but the seven-day incidence fell to 375 per 100,000 people from 389.2 on Monday.

       The document also proposed that travellers who had been in a "virus variant area" 10 days before their arrival in Germany should take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test prior to leaving and carry out a further PCR test upon arrival in Germany at the airport.

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