COVID-19 vaccination at the pharmacy

Pharmacies gave the COVID-19 vaccination before the extension of 2 July 2026. Until then they could vaccinate against two diseases: flu and COVID-19. A pharmacist trained for those two needs no further training under § 20c of the Infektionsschutzgesetz, the German infection protection act. You need neither a doctor’s appointment nor a referral, and the age limit of 18 has no exceptions.

Who it is recommended to

Since 9 July 2026 the annual COVID-19 vaccination has been a standard vaccination from the age of 75. That means an ordinary recommendation for everyone in that age group, whatever their state of health. The change came from the Ständige Impfkommission, Germany’s standing committee on vaccination at the Robert Koch-Institut, which also recommends the vaccination to these groups:

• people with an underlying condition that raises the risk of becoming seriously ill
• residents of care homes
• people at raised risk of becoming seriously ill who live in disability support facilities
• pregnant women from the second trimester, where an underlying condition or a pregnancy complication is present
• family members and close contacts of people in whom the vaccination is not expected to produce protective immunity
• care home staff in direct contact with residents
• medical staff at raised risk of infection at work, and medical staff caring for patients at risk

The recommendation gives examples of what counts as an underlying condition: chronic conditions of the airways, the heart and circulation, the liver and the kidneys. Diabetes, obesity from a BMI of 30, conditions of the nervous system and a weakened immune system are on that list. So are cancer and the long-term effects of a COVID-19 illness.

What changed in July 2026

The recommendation to build up a Basisimmunität is gone: an immunity from at least three contacts with the virus, through vaccination or through infection. The committee dropped it because a large part of the adult population reached that immunity long ago. The same holds for pregnant women without an underlying condition or a pregnancy complication.

If you belong to none of the groups above, the committee does not recommend the vaccination to you at present. You can still have it. The pharmacy or your doctor’s practice can clarify whether that makes sense in your case.

When the season starts

In late summer or early autumn. The committee bases that on the three seasons since 2023/24. In each of them the wave of infections began at that time of year. It recommends one vaccination per season, preferably at the start of it. Anyone who misses that catches up during the season.

Timing matters because protection from the vaccination fades quickly, according to this recommendation. The World Health Organization or the European Medicines Agency names the variant that each season’s vaccine is matched to.

Who pays for it

For the groups the vaccination is recommended to, the statutory health insurer pays, with no co-payment. The Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss sets out exactly who can claim it. It writes that into the Schutzimpfungs-Richtlinie, the directive listing which vaccinations the statutory insurers cover.

The Bundesausschuss works from the recommendations of the Ständige Impfkommission. If it does not decide on a new recommendation within two months, the insurers have to reimburse the vaccination in the meantime.

Otherwise you normally pay yourself, and some insurers cover the vaccination voluntarily. Each pharmacy sets its own price, so ask there before you book.