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BERLIN (AP) -- The German military is making coronavirus shots compulsory for troops amid a growing debate in the country about whether to introduce a general vaccine mandate to counter rising infection and hospitalization rates.
The Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a report in the German military blog Augen Geradeaus that officials and soldiers' representatives agreed late Monday to add the coronavirus shot to the list of vaccines soldiers must get. The measure still needs to be formally added to military regulations, the ministry said in a statement.
There were 1,215 reported active coronavirus cases as of Monday within the military and the ministry's civilian staff. Two soldiers have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The nationwide tally of newly confirmed cases rose by 45,326 in the past 24 hours, the country's disease control agency said Tuesday. A further 309 deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, taking the total toll since the start of the outbreak to 99,433.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department urged Americans not to travel to Germany because of rising case numbers, and to ensure they are fully vaccinated if they do.
Some German states have tightened rules for unvaccinated people in recent days and urged people who haven't done so yet to get the shot.
But a sizeable minority has resisted calls to do so, prompting a stark warning from the country's health minister about the consequences of not getting vaccinated.
"By the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany (…) will have been vaccinated, recovered or died," health minister Jens Spahn said Monday.