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Around 400 vaccination centers have been created in Germany under great time pressure. They should be ready for use starting today. What is missing is the vaccine. And there are more foreseeable problems.
By Christian Kretschmer, SWR
In the “City-Outlet” in Zweibrücken, boxes of protective equipment are stacked. The mall, which was empty for years, is now the city’s new vaccination center. It is one of a total of 31 in Rhineland-Palatinate. Matthias Freyler and several helpers are cleaning the shelves here until the end: only 35,000 needles and more than 25,000 syringes are waiting to be used. “We are ready to go, we just need the vaccine,” says Freyler, coordinator of the vaccination center. He points to a large empty refrigerator. The cans can be stored here in specially insulated boxes with dry ice, even if that will take weeks.
As in Zweibrücken, in recent weeks around 400 vaccination centers have been set up across the country: in exhibition halls, former asylum reception centers or sports facilities. The number of vaccination centers in the federal states varies enormously: for example, there are 93 in Bavaria, 31 in Rhineland-Palatinate and around 50 in Lower Saxony. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, there are also 27 so-called distribution centers in the federal states from which the vaccine will be distributed. According to the ministry, the distribution is made according to the respective proportion of the population of the countries.
Details of who will get the vaccine first have not yet been determined. A draft from the Standing Commission on Vaccination stipulates that older people and medical personnel at high risk of infection should be vaccinated first. An ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Health should finally set the priorities. The FDP and patient advocates recently demanded that the Bundestag also participate in this decision. Liberals ask for a law.
Appointments can be made online or through a call center
In Zweibrücken they try to make the most of the time until the vaccine arrives. Coordinator Freyler is already creating to-do lists for doctors and staff. In the large waiting room of the vaccination center, he explains the processes to three newly hired clerks. You must take care of the registration on the site and verify your personal data. “It may be that someone pretends to be a nurse just to get directly vaccinated,” says Freyler. Therefore, employees should also check the employers’ certificates. This is to prevent people from getting vaccinated early.
The biggest challenge at the vaccination center, however, is not vaccinating, but something that seems banal at first glance, like coordinating appointments. It takes place before registering with the vaccination center: “It will be crucial that appointments are made in such a way that the vaccine is always available. The potential for errors is significantly higher in the organization than in the vaccination itself,” says Freyler.
Therefore, the allocation of appointments must be controlled centrally in the respective federal states. This is done through an online platform or a call center. “The country then knows, for example, that in Zweibrücken we have 500 doses of vaccine and then we can arrange 500 appointments with us,” explains Freyler. It is important that this process works without problems, because long lines in the centers should be avoided due to a possible risk of infection.
The crux of the matter: the staff
Another stumbling block: the staff. More than 10,000 doctors across the country have pledged to help out at the vaccination centers. This was the result of a survey conducted by the Funke media group on statutory health insurance associations. The willingness to help is excellent.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the payment of doctors recently provoked criticism: an hourly wage of 140 euros is estimated there. In vaccination centers, they are mainly supposed to provide information. There is still a particular demand for medically trained personnel who are supposed to administer the injections with the vaccine. A piece job.
In Baden-Württemberg, more helpers would be needed for the 59 vaccination centers, state social minister Manfred Lucha said recently, asking nurses, pharmacists and medical students to report. Also in other federal states, for example in Saarland, voices are being heard warning about gaps in vaccination personnel.
Also in Zweibrücken this is a challenge in perspective, says Mayor Marold Wosnitza. “We would vaccinate with two shifts from 8 am to 10 pm We need the right personnel.” Especially if another vaccination line is to be built in the center and the vaccine is injected to about 400 people per shift.
It will take a while for that to happen. “I think we can expand vaccines in February or March,” says Wosnitza. Vaccinations should start at the end of December at the earliest, provided it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency. Until then, the vaccination centers have to work and wait.
