Berlin, Dec 17 (IANS): The German government is deploying a rapid booster Covid-19 vaccination strategy in order to avoid overloading the country's healthcare system, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach said.

"We have made a very offensive booster vaccination strategy our main tool, and for that you need a lot of vaccine, and you need the vaccine fast," Lauterbach said at a press conference.

The government has made 2.2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) available to purchase 92 million additional doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for the coming year, the Ministry of Finance said.

Beyond booster shots, or third doses, Lauterbach expects that a fourth dose would also be a "central pillar of a successful strategy", adding that for this reason vaccine procurement continues to be important.

The country's vaccination campaign has recently picked up speed again. Almost 1.5 million doses were administered on Wednesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute and German Ministry of Health.

Some 70 perc ent of the German population is now vaccinated.

At least 22.9 million people have also received an additional booster vaccination.