Speaking at an economic forum hosted by the German daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Merkel warned that 2021 was going to be "demanding."
The way out of the crisis is arduous, and it is up to us all (to make it happen)," Merkel said, adding that Germany would succeed with "consideration, perseverance, reason and confidence."
The Chancellor also spoke about the vaccine jointly developed by German company BioNTech and American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which was shown to be more than 90% effective in early data released by the drugmakers last week. Merkel said she was happy to have vaccines that are making progress.