
July 14, 2026
Several significant developments led STIKO to change its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations, the German newspaper Die Zeit reported.
The rise in hybrid immunity in the population, the declining severity of COVID-19 infections, the continued decrease in deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 and the changing nature of SARS-CoV-2 — which now has the characteristics of a seasonal respiratory virus — factored into STIKO’s decision.
STIKO cited the fact that “over 95% of the adult population has broad immunity from past infections or vaccines” as evidence that healthy adults 75 and younger are well-protected against severe COVID-19 infections.
Sterz said that while the new policy vindicates proponents of natural immunity, the effectiveness of this strategy in conferring immunity should not be conflated with the protection purportedly provided by the COVID-19 shots.
“People who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 have never developed a durable, solid immunity against this man-made virus,” Sterz said.
STIKO’s report cited data showing a significant reduction in deaths between the 2023-24 and 2025-26 cold and flu seasons. Hospitalizations declined from approximately 135,000 to 50,000. Deaths dropped from approximately 4,300 to fewer than 900 during the same period.
According to STIKO, of the remaining cases, most occurred in older adults, with approximately 80% of hospitalizations and 97% of deaths occurring among people age 60 or over. The burden was highest among people 80 years old and up.
The new recommendations are “a step in the right direction,” said internal medicine physician Dr. Clayton J. Baker. But he suggested that even the population groups identified as being at risk don’t need annual boosters.
He said that continuing to recommend the shots for people 75 and older “perpetuates the false notion that seasonal respiratory viruses require annual ‘boosters,’ a falsehood that is borne out by the abysmal record of the annual influenza vaccine.”
Sterz suggested that declining hospitalizations and deaths, officially attributed to the declining severity of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and widespread hybrid immunity, are actually due to the decreased uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Perhaps it’s because people became more and more reluctant to get the jab,” Sterz said.
According to RKI data cited by Eurosurveillance, only 20.9% of people ages 60 or over in Germany received a COVID-19 vaccine during the 2024-25 cold and flu season, despite the country’s official guidance.
These data contrast with RKI figures showing that 85.3% of adults 60 and over had received the first booster dose and 39% received a second booster dose.
Sterz suggested that German public health authorities have long overstated the severity and risk of COVID-19. “I would say that this was the case from the very beginning. The pandemic was mainly created by (false-positive) PCR test results,” Sterz said.
A peer-reviewed study co-authored by Walach and published last year in Frontiers in Epidemiology found that only about 1 in 7 positive PCR tests in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic indicated an actual coronavirus infection that triggered an antibody response.
Like Baker, Sterz suggested that the “at-risk” groups for which STIKO continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination should opt not to get vaccinated. Sterz highlighted the potential risks of mRNA vaccines.
“The immune system of these people must be boosted by natural ways and not weakened by a non-efficient and dangerous vaccine,” Sterz said.