[ad_1]
The Health Ministry orders 26 million doses of flu vaccines, out of a population of 80 million. That worries the experts. They initially recommend caring only for people in risk groups.
The director of the Berlin Association of General Practitioners has demanded that initially only risk groups be vaccinated against the flu. “With 26 million doses of vaccine and a population of 80 million people, only risk groups can be vaccinated initially,” Wolfgang Kreischer told the Funke media group newspapers. Only if the vaccine is not used should other people be vaccinated. “Otherwise, the vaccine may not be enough for those who really need it.”
Martin Terhardt, a member of the Standing Commission on Vaccination (Stiko) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), also sees the risk that there will be very little flu vaccine available this winter. “My wish would actually be a gradual recommendation that, first, in mid-December, priority be given to those who belong to the risk groups,” he told RBB’s consumer magazine “Supermarket”. “And if the situation is such that the rest of the risk group really doesn’t want to get vaccinated and there is still enough vaccine, then I’d be happy to approve it.
40 million only in risk groups
Stiko recommends vaccination for risk groups: people over 60, pregnant women, people with previous illnesses, elderly residents and nursing homes and professional groups with a higher risk of infection. About 40 million doses of vaccine would be needed to deliver to all people in these groups. However, by no means everyone is taking advantage of the offer: In the age group 60 and over, the vaccination rate in the 2014/15 flu season was about 40 percent.
According to the Health Ministry, 26 million cans have been ordered so far. The RKI emphasized in August that people outside of risk groups could also get the vaccine. At the same time, however, he made clear: “The information that we know about the possible quantities of influenza vaccine available can guarantee the supply to the most important target groups, but not to the entire population.”
