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Where do vaccines start?
The German vaccination campaign begins on December 27 in care and elderly centers. Mobile vaccination teams will be deployed to visit homes and vaccinate residents and staff there. According to the Federal Ministry of Health, the federal states and local authorities decide which households will be vaccinated first.
Where are the other vaccinations carried out?
Those who are not vaccinated at home should go to one of the 400 regional vaccination centers. They are ready to go to many places. The centers are operated by the federal states and will likely begin operating in early January at the latest.
Who is first
This is regulated by the vaccination ordinance. Prioritization is necessary because initially there will not be enough doses of vaccine available for everyone. The highest priority is given to people 80 years of age and over, as well as to all those who are cared for or work in hospital facilities for the treatment, care or care of the elderly or needy. The first group also includes those who work in intensive care units, emergency rooms, emergency services, or vaccination centers.
The second group includes people 70 years of age or older and people at high risk of developing the disease more seriously. This includes both people with dementia and people with trisomy 21 and transplant patients. Close contacts of people in need of care can then be vaccinated, and the same applies to people in nursing homes or homeless shelters.
The third group includes all people over the age of 60, those who are very overweight, people with chronic kidney or liver disease, patients with immunodeficiency, and people infected with HIV, as well as people with diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure. Also included are people with cancer and asthma, as well as people with autoimmune or rheumatic diseases.
The third priority also includes employees of constitutional bodies, governments and administrations, armed forces, police, customs, firefighters, civil protection and justice, as well as food retailers. There are also people with precarious working conditions such as temporary workers.
When it’s my turn
The federal states decide the procedure for informing the vaccine holders. Some state governments write directly to their citizens, while in others it is not yet clear how they will notify people of vaccination options.
If you want to get vaccinated, you must make an appointment. Appointment management is expected to take place in many places through existing dating service points under the national number 116117. However, some federal states are planning their own hotline.
How many people can be vaccinated in the first days?
According to the federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), the manufacturer Biontech will deliver 1.3 million doses of vaccines before the end of the year. That would be enough for the same number of people. The second required vaccination should be given within three weeks. Its purpose is to ensure that the vaccine works properly.
At the end of March, Spahn announced between eleven and twelve million doses of vaccines. So the amount would be enough for up to six million people.
What does next year look like?
Spahn hopes to be able to offer all citizens of Germany a “vaccination offer” for the summer, provided that other preparations are approved. In addition to the Biontech vaccine, Moderna also intervenes, whose approval the European Medicines Agency (EMA) wants to decide before January 6. According to the Ministry of Health, a total of 136.3 million doses are safe for both vaccines, almost all of which could be administered in 2021. With two doses each, 68.2 million citizens could be vaccinated, with 83 million inhabitants in Germany.
Are so many who want to be vaccinated?
Probably not. According to a poll conducted by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of the dpa news agency, around two-thirds of Germans currently plan to do so. Specifically, 32 percent of those surveyed said they wanted to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Another 33 percent are determined to do so, but first want to wait and see the possible consequences of vaccination for others. 19 percent have decided not to get vaccinated, 16 percent are still undecided.
How does vaccination work?
Anyone who is vaccinated at a vaccination center must first identify themselves. You then get information on vaccination, risks and side effects, as well as a questionnaire about your own health. The vaccination is administered in individual cubicles by qualified personnel. For residents of nursing homes and senior citizens who are vaccinated on the spot, the facilities entitle the vaccinated.
Can I also get vaccinated with my GP?
At first this is not possible, but it may change in a few months. After the planned start at 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?
No, that’s wrong. 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, among other things,” says the Paul Ehrlich Institute. The Federal Ministry of Health also has no indication that mRNA is being 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 .
Can I 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. A US study, which has not yet been conclusively evaluated, provides the first clues of people who were naturally infected with Sars-CoV-2: According to this, the defense mechanisms of the 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 findings of a study on the preparation of Biontech published in the New England Journal of Medicine, chills, diarrhea or pain in the muscles and limbs and, in some cases, fever can 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 Side Effects.bund.de platform or an app. Through the app, vaccinated people are asked about their health problems at certain intervals after each vaccination or if a corona infection still occurred after the injection.
Do I have to worry about being allergic?
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 have to be excluded from vaccination due to the risk of allergy,” 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.
Does vaccination also work with 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, Uğur Şahin, 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 ”. With more information on the mutation that was first discovered in the UK, there will be more knowledge.
Do I have to pay for the vaccine myself?
No. It should be free for everyone. The federal government assumes the cost of the vaccines. Overall, Health Minister Jens Spahn expects costs of up to six billion euros for the entire vaccination campaign. The federal states and the health insurance funds finance the establishment and organization of the vaccination centers. Federal states and municipalities must ensure that there are enough personnel to operate vaccination centers.
Will there be mandatory vaccination?
The federal government has repeatedly ruled out a blanket vaccination requirement. Only the future will tell whether stores and restaurants will deny entry without proof of immunity or how they can control this. Legal experts recently saw the possibility of denying access to unvaccinated people through the home rights of private owners.
