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KLess than a year after the outbreak of the corona pandemic in Germany, vaccinations against the dangerous virus have started across the country. However, the start of vaccination could not start as planned across the board.
In the eight districts of Upper Franconia and the associated independent cities of Coburg, Lichtenfels, Kronach, Hof, Bayreuth, Wunsiedel, Forchheim and Kulmbach, as well as in the Swabian districts of Augsburg and Dillingen, a severe collapse occurred, resulting in the start of vaccination will be initially postponed for an indefinite period. I had to. There were inconsistencies in the cold chain. In Augsburg and Dillingen, however, the problem was solved in a few hours.
“The integrated cooling log shows that the temperature recorded during transport was initially three degrees Celsius and then minus one degree Celsius,” said Augsburg District Administrator Martin Sailer (CSU). A possible background was a malfunction of the portable cooler, but also a decrease in the temperature recorded in the box due to the vaccine, which was originally still frozen.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Munich said at the request of the German Press Agency that the inconsistencies could have been clarified with the manufacturer Biontech. The districts had received the information that the vaccine was ready for use and vaccination could begin.
In Upper Franconia, several district administrators also reported problems with reading temperature recorders and raised concerns about cold chain compliance. They argued that patient safety came first, that there had to be a 100 percent guarantee that the vaccine could be administered safely. “If there is a slightest indication that the vaccine does not meet the 100 percent quality criteria, this lot will not be inoculated,” said the chairman of the Upper Franconia district association of the Bavarian district council, the district administrator from Lichtenfels, Christian Meißner. It was not clear at first when the situation in the affected districts of Upper Franconia would be clarified.
In Upper Franconia, vaccines could only be administered in the city and district of Bamberg.
National vaccinations have begun
According to a report from Cologne, the Ministry of Health criticized that too few doses of vaccine had arrived. According to the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MAGS), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia initially received 9,750 doses of vaccine, while the city of Cologne received 180 doses. “We were expecting more vaccines,” he quoted “Focus Online” from MAGS circles.
Vaccinations began nationwide on Sunday morning. In a Berlin nursing home, a 101-year-old woman received an injection with the vaccine from the Mainz company Biontech and the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer in the presence of health senator Dilek Kalayci (SPD). Immediately afterwards, two more elderly people were vaccinated.
In Saxony-Anhalt, three mobile vaccination teams started shortly before 9:00 a.m. M. To vaccinate the residents of a municipal nursing home in the north of Magdeburg, as Matthias Boxhorn, organizational director of the regional association of Johanniter Magdeburg / Börde / Harz said. Around 120 elderly people and around 60 employees wanted to get vaccinated.
In Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia, a 95-year-old was the first to receive the injection at the Marienheim care and senior center. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, vaccinations began in a health center in Güstrow. “We began with caution and care,” said NDR district spokesman Michael Fengler.
In several federal states, prime ministers also want to be present at the start of vaccination. Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder warned of the negative consequences of obstacles in deliveries. “The endless waiting also reduces the population’s willingness to get vaccinated,” said the head of the CSU in Munich. Unfortunately, there are not enough vaccines available yet.
People over 80 years of age, as well as nurses and hospital staff who are at particular risk, are scheduled to be vaccinated first. Mobile vaccination teams will be on the way for this purpose. Most of the more than 400 vaccination centers will not be operational until the next few days.
At a senior center in Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt, the first residents and employees were vaccinated on Saturday. Reason: The Harz district did not want to wait until Sunday. Edith Kwoizalla, 101, was vaccinated, as were about 40 of the 59 residents. Ten of the 40 employees wanted to get vaccinated.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) was surprised by the early start of vaccination in the Harz district. Spahn’s spokesman said in “Bild am Sonntag” that the minister is happy with Edith Kwoizalla and wishes her all the best. However, the spokesperson emphasized: “However, we had agreed with all the partner countries of the EU and with the 16 federal states to deliver everyone on Saturday and start vaccinations together from Sunday.”
The federal government advocates that as many people as possible get vaccinated, also to protect others. According to experts, a vaccination rate of 60 to 70 percent is necessary to control the pandemic. According to a YouGov poll, 65 percent of Germans intend to get vaccinated.
The first corona infection in Germany was known on January 27, 2020. Since then, more than 1.6 million infections have been recorded. According to the Robert Koch Institute, 29,422 infected people had died in Germany as of Saturday.
WORLD summarizes the most important questions and answers at the start of vaccination together:
Can you also get vaccinated with your GP?
Maybe in a few months. After the planned start in the regional vaccination centers, the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) assumes “that the practices will probably vaccinate in the summer,” said KBV chief Andreas Gassen. Family doctors are prepared to “quickly vaccinate a large group of patients.”
What is really in the Biontech vaccination doses?
This is the so-called mRNA vaccine. This species has now been approved for humans for the first time. Unlike conventional vaccines, the agent does not contain any weakened or killed viruses, but only instructions for a component of the Covid-19 pathogen. These instructions are inoculated into the body in the form of the so-called mRNA molecule, where human cells produce a protein from the virus. The human immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies. In the case of subsequent contact with the coronavirus, the immune system recognizes the protein and can quickly fight the pathogen in a specific way.
Some say that the mRNA vaccine changes genes, is that true?
This is bad. The cells of the body completely break down the mRNA molecule. Vaccination cannot intervene in the human genome. “The integration of RNA into DNA is not possible due to the different chemical structure,” says the Paul Ehrlich Institute. The Federal Ministry of Health also has no indication that mRNA can be transcribed into DNA.
How good is vaccination protection?
In previous tests, the Biontech product protected 95 percent against Covid 19 disease. If this effectiveness can also be achieved with massive use in a greater number of older people or people with previous illnesses, it will only be seen in a few months .
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Can you still infect others after a vaccine?
This is still unclear. Biontech expects more detailed information on this no later than February.
How long does the vaccination last?
That also cannot be answered yet. Studies are currently underway. The first clues are provided by an American study, which has not yet been conclusively evaluated, of people who were naturally infected with Sars-CoV-2: according to this, the defense mechanisms of their immune system were still detectable months later. With a vaccine, the immune response is generally more efficient, says Carsten Watzl, an immunologist at the Leibniz Institute for Labor Research at the Technical University of Dortmund.
What side effects can I expect?
Fatigue, headache, injection site pain – these are common side effects of vaccines that you should be prepared for. According to the results of a study on the preparation Biontech published in the “New England Journal of Medicine”, chills, diarrhea or muscle and limb pain and, in some cases, fever may also occur. These were generally weak to moderate and decreased after a short period of time. Experts don’t find them pleasant, but they don’t see any cause for great concern either.
How are side effects managed?
Vaccine tolerability will continue to be tested after approval. For this, the responsible Paul Ehrlich Institute relies on reports from manufacturers, doctors, but also from patients. This can be done, for example, via the “Nebenhaben.bund.de” platform or an app. Through the app, vaccinated people are asked about their health problems at certain intervals after each vaccination, or whether a corona infection still occurred after the injection.
Do allergy sufferers have to worry?
Not too much, says the president of the Association of German Allergists, Ludger Klimek. Allergic reactions to vaccines are not uncommon and very rare. “Very few people will probably have to be excluded from vaccination due to allergy risk,” says the professor of medicine. No patients with severe allergies were included in the Biontech registry study.
Who is responsible for damages?
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, different legal bases come into consideration depending on the case. A liability of the pharmaceutical company could result from pharmaceutical law or product liability law. “In addition, the general liability regulations of the civil code apply,” a ministry spokesman said shortly before Christmas.
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Does the vaccine work against new virus variants?
Probably yes. According to experts, the body’s immune response is directed against various characteristics of the virus, so individual mutations shouldn’t have a dramatic effect. The head of Biontech, Ugur Sahin, confides: “We have already tested the vaccine against 20 other virus variants with other mutations. The immune response produced by our vaccine has always deactivated all forms of the virus ”. More information, for example about the mutation in the UK, will provide more information.
