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Vaccination centers are being built throughout Germany. But how does a vaccination line really work? After a practical test in Wiesbaden, it is clear that there are still some problems to be solved.
Vabout Katja Sodomann, hr
A bit of pride resonates when Marc Dieroff and Andreas Kleber, the construction managers of the Wiesbaden vaccination center, present their progress: The first vaccination street at the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden is ready. There should be eight by December 11. Your construction team, comprised of the volunteer fire department, DLRG, technical assistance organization, and exhibition booth builders, is well on time. The first test run also worked. Similarly, in the future it will be implemented in all vaccination centers in the country.
Access is only without fever
Fever is first measured at the entrance to the lobby. Access is only without fever. Then the data of the vaccinated people are reviewed and it is verified if they have received an invitation to vaccination. Only then can you register for the vaccination. They are then distributed to the queues of the eight vaccination lanes. It is similar to checking in at the airport, but with a distance, of course. And with chairs for each vaccinated, because especially at the beginning many older people and with previous illnesses are expected.
Bottleneck: Educational chat
There are four vaccination booths per vaccination line, in which vaccination can be carried out in parallel. There is also a lounger in one of them, in case someone tends to get dizzy, for example. But before the vaccination comes the informative talk. There is only one space for this by way of vaccination, and everyone who wants to be vaccinated has the right to do so. Estimated time: up to 15 minutes. Marc Dieroff, deputy director of the Wiesbaden health department, sees education as the bottleneck of the vaccination process, which could well exceed the country’s time requirements.
Anyway, they are a big challenge: 1500 people have to be vaccinated every day in the capital of the state of Hesse, also with mobile vaccination teams, but mainly at the central vaccination center. Each of the eight vaccination lines must operate 15 hours a day, in double shifts from 7 am to 10 pm “Every hour, 12.5 people have to go through each vaccination line to meet the requirements, that is, little less than five minutes per person, “calculates Dieroff. Some people would take almost as long to remove their layers of winter clothing and roll up their sleeves.
The vaccination routes eventually lead to a large observation area with chairs. In between is a separate emergency room in case complications arise. The recommendation: wait another half hour after vaccination.
Great need for staff
But there are still some problems to be solved before we can start. About the staff problem. “Where should the people who are supposed to work double shifts here for months come from?” It’s probably not the only question asked by Dieroff and his colleague Andreas Kleber from the Wiesbaden fire brigade disaster control.
Delegates, assistants and, above all, medical personnel are wanted, but now they are also urgently needed in clinics and hospitals. They need 16 doctors a day alone. Around 5,000 medical professionals are needed for vaccination centers in Hesse, estimates Tobias Bräunlein, head of the Hessen Vaccine Coordination Task Force. Among other things, expect the use of retirees. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, there is no national estimate or calculation of staffing needs. Consider the availability of medical personnel as a critical bottleneck. The problem is far from solved.
However, Braunlein is optimistic. However, the president of the Hesse Family Physicians Association is skeptical. After all, most doctors are more than busy, says Armin Beck. It would be different if they could also vaccinate in their practice rather than in vaccination centers as usual. But that is not planned at the moment.
Where does the invitation to vaccination come from?
The director of the Association of General Practitioners has further questions, for example: “How should the vaccinated be invited?” Because initially only citizens should go to vaccination centers by invitation. Probably the first risk groups, that is, older people and people with underlying diseases and other risk factors. The registry office could help with age. But who reports to whom, who are the prioritized patients with previous illnesses? And that without violating data protection? Health insurance companies? Family doctors? There was no information about it yet, report both Beck and Dieroff from the vaccination center.
The Hessian Ministry of the Interior has not yet responded to this question. Here they are currently working on an IT solution to record “prioritized people groups”. But who exactly these groups of people should be has not even been determined. Therefore, a Hessian or even national implementation is still pending.
Vaccination centers like the one in Wiesbaden will soon be ready to go, but the installation alone is far from over. The vaccine is by far not the only thing missing for Covid-19 vaccines to really get started and work smoothly.
