German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff said he was very skeptical about the prospect of traveling on Easter, while noting that he expects the situation to change by the end of May, the Associated Press reports.

This week, Merkel and the heads of the German federal states agreed to extend coronavirus restrictions until March 28, while implementing a roadmap to loosen some rules in regions with relatively few infections. But many questions still have to be resolved.

Merkel's chief of staff Helge Braun, in an interview published on Saturday, told the Funke newspaper group that she was very skeptical about travel at Easter. Easter falls on the first weekend of April this year.

Brown said Germany could return to full normalcy in the summer if vaccine manufacturers meet their supply commitments and no new coronavirus mutation occurs, which casts doubt on the entire success of vaccinations."

To date, Germany has provided 5.7% of its population with the first dose of vaccine and 2.8% with two doses.