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The government wants to “force” health facilities to ensure their staff and residents are vaccinated and rely on doctors as spokespersons.
The first approvals of Covid vaccines in the EU are imminent, in Great Britain the national vaccination campaign began yesterday. In Austria vaccinations are supposed to start in January.
As is well known, seniors and nursing home staff must rise through the ranks first. As soon as more vaccines are available, the rest of the population will get involved as well, even young people aged 16 and over. This is the age for which the first two vaccines from BionTech / Pfizer and Moderna are expected to be approved, Clemens Martin Auer, COVID special envoy for the Health Ministry said at a press conference Wednesday. The European Medicines Agency has announced approval for the Biontech / Pfizer vaccines for December 29, for Moderna for January 12, and Auer expects AstraZeneca to start in January or February.
“Get hospitals to commit”
As in the general population, at least 50 percent of people in nursing homes should be vaccinated to receive herd immunity, Auer said. “This not only refers to the residents and the staff, but to all the employees, including the tobacconist or the florist,” that still exist in the big houses. There will not be compulsory vaccination there either. As a legislator, the only option is “to compromise the legal entities of nursing homes and hospitals” and remind them of their duty of care. However, Auer did not specify exactly what such an “obligation” might look like.
When it comes to the highest possible vaccination rate, doctors and healthcare workers are the “most important communicators” anyway. “They must be convinced that this vaccination is important and correct.” To inform you as best as possible, Auer sees one of his most important tasks, only then can he reach the rest of the population.
Ethical duty to vaccinate?
The Federal Chancellery’s bioethics commission also addressed the issue of the obligation to vaccinate, its president Christiane Druml said at the press conference. Because the long-term consequences and side effects of the new vaccination are not yet sufficiently known, a legal obligation was excluded from the point of view of the commission.
It’s different with ethical duty: With an individual’s individual freedom goes hand in hand with individual responsibility, Druml said. Stopping the pandemic with vaccination and protecting others “is a privilege that we must all accept.” That is why the Commission recommended that the German government issue “a clear recommendation to the public.”
German vaccination plan as a model
It has long been clear that nursing home residents over 65 and facility staff in Austria will be the first to receive a vaccine. But even within this group there will probably be gradations. Germany’s Standing Commission for Vaccination (STIKO) has sent a draft to prioritize groups of people for vaccination. According to the president of the Austrian National Vaccination Committee, Ursula Wiedermann-Schmidt, the German document could serve as a model for the specification of the national vaccination strategy. Because the situation in Germany is “very similar” to that of Austria. The Austrian Vaccination Board is working on a plan similar to that of STIKO.
From the homeless to the federal government
According to the German document, “very high priority” is given to residents of nursing homes and for the elderly and people over 80 years of age. This also includes personnel with an especially high risk of exposure in medical facilities and personnel in medical facilities in contact with “vulnerable groups”.
The second “high priority” group includes people aged 75 to 80 years, personnel at risk of exposure in medical facilities, people with dementia or mental disabilities in institutions and their caregivers.
People between 70 and 75 years old and people with previous illnesses and their closest contacts have a “moderate priority.” This also applies to people in asylum seeker and homeless shelters, close contacts with pregnant women, and staff with a moderate risk of exposure in medical facilities.
The document sets a “higher priority” for people between the ages of 65 and 70, people with moderate risk pre-existing conditions and their closest contacts, and people at low risk of exposure in medical facilities. Seasonal workers, workers in distribution centers, meat industry).
People in key positions in state governments, in the federal government, employees of retail groups, and professionals in critical infrastructure (e.g., fire department, military, police, waste management, etc.) have “low priority”. All other people ultimately have “low priority” under the age of 60.
At the moment, the STIKO draft does not contain a vaccination recommendation for children. A German STIKO member has already stated that children under 16 are likely to be excluded for the time being. It has not yet been decided whether young people between the ages of 16 and 18 should be vaccinated.
