BERLIN, July 14 (Xinhua) -- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier addressed his compatriots in a video message on Wednesday and urged them to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
"We are very fortunate to have found a means to protect ourselves and others," Steinmeier said. "Let's use it!" Only by fully vaccinating the largest possible number of people could the protection against the particularly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 be increased, he said.
As of Monday, more than 36.3 million people in Germany had been fully vaccinated, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 43.7 percent, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal agency for infectious diseases. More than 49 million people have received at least one vaccine dose.
Steinmeier said he was proud of "what this society has demonstrated over the past year and a half: solidarity, reason, discipline, inventiveness and mutual help." In the current situation, it is "up to the community" to take responsibility, he said.
Delta has been the dominant COVID-19 variant in Germany since the end of June, currently accounting for 59 percent of new infections, according to RKI. Enditem