The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a possible half a million more deaths in Europe by February.
WHO Europe head Hans Kluge blamed insufficient vaccine take-up.
Sixteen million Germans are unvaccinated.
However hospital intensive care cases are still lower than in spring.
Kluge said a relaxation of public health measures was also behind the rise in cases in the WHO's European region, which covers 53 countries including parts of Central Asia. So far the WHO has recorded 1.4m deaths across the region.
