Coronavirus: could Germany get vaccinated faster?

The government’s crisis management is the subject of growing criticism. The vaccination campaign is also progressing slowly. This is partly due to a lack of flexibility, but it is not that simple.

Germany does not even appear in the list of the top 20 vaccination rates worldwide. The vaccination quota indicates what proportion of the population of a given country has already been vaccinated at least once.

Leading the way is the island state of Seychelles, with a rate of 63.5 percent. However, the state only has a population of just under 100,000. Israel ranks second with almost 60 percent and Britain third with a good 41 percent (as of March 21, 2021). But Chile (30 percent), the United States (just under 25 percent), Serbia (a good 19 percent) and Hungary (just under 17 percent) leave the Federal Republic far behind with a good nine percent. .

Germany could be faster

“How can that be?” It has been the question in this country for a long time, the population is frustrated. The main problem is the lack of vaccine. Apparently, the EU ordered it wrongly or too shyly. But it is not enough to hand over responsibility to Europe.

Because even with the existing vaccine, Germany could be faster. The vaccination centers, which currently – and according to the will of the federal-state summit also until Easter – carry out the majority of vaccinations, currently only use 67 percent of their capacity.

About 100,000 vaccines a day, very few

Vaccination centers, with the vaccine currently available, could inoculate nearly 342,000 vaccines every day. However, they only administered 268,000 on Tuesday, and only about 220,000 on Monday, as shown by data from the Robert Koch Institute and the federal and state ministries of health, which is compiled by the Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance in Germany (Zi).

Why is the remaining 33% of the capacity not being used? That was 74,000 in vaccination doses Tuesday, which could save lives amid the third wave of the corona pandemic. In other words, what has to happen for the vaccination campaign to finally accelerate?

Too rigid rules for prioritization

The answer to this is not easy. It echoes the Chancellor’s phrase about “proven German thoroughness”, which will now be “supplemented with greater flexibility.” Anke Richter-Scheer can tell you a lot about it. She is the state president of the Westfalia-Lippe Family Physicians Association and the head of a vaccination center. “The strict adherence to the prioritization of the vaccination sequence is a disadvantage,” he says in an interview with tagesschau.de.

In principle, prioritization is absolutely necessary, but a little more flexibility would make the job much easier. “Right now we are in the process of vaccinating 80-year-olds. Before everyone has received a vaccination offer, we can’t just call 79-year-olds,” he says. “We waste a lot of time looking for who is next. If we could be more pragmatic, we could work much faster.”

Involve family doctors before

Richter-Scheer, who is herself a family doctor, also believes that family doctors should have been involved earlier. Of course, they would also have to adhere to prioritization. “But we get to know our patients, there is also trust. Vaccine information, bureaucracy and making appointments are faster,” says Richter-Scheer.

Individual federal states are now moving forward: in North Rhine-Westphalia, doctors’ offices can now vaccinate. In Bavaria they start in April. At least a start, even if they don’t get a lot of shots at first. However, the time factor “make appointments” should soon increasingly take a back seat.

Too many accumulated reserves

Another problem is putting the vaccine aside for the second vaccination. Here, too, Germany has lost time in recent weeks because vaccines have been stockpiled that could have been used for other initial vaccines. In early March, the federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, recommended that the recommended intervals between the first and second vaccination be exhausted. With the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine, if possible, a second vaccine should not be given until after six weeks, with the AstraZeneca after twelve weeks.

This is now being done at the Ministry of Social Affairs of Baden-Württemberg. “Last week we changed the intervals between the first and second vaccination: in BioNTech from three weeks to 40 to 42 days, in Moderna from 28 to 40 to 42 days and in AstraZeneca from nine to twelve weeks,” says the chief of staff. . Vaccination Unit, Katja Schnell.

Reserves are now being released

In addition, vaccine stocks are dissolving. “Initially we retain much of the vaccine to be able to guarantee the second vaccination. Now that we know there will be enough vaccine, we also vaccinate these stocks,” says Schnell.

According to Zi data, the inventory currently comprises around 3.5 million doses of vaccine. “We are assuming that this will be less and less now, among other things because more and more federal states are going to exhaust vaccination intervals,” says Daniel Wosnitzka, Zi spokesman.

Demands to do the same as Great Britain and to vaccinate as many people as possible once, if necessary at the expense of the second vaccination, experts reject. “Only the second vaccine offers total protection, which must be done in any case within the time limit prescribed by the granting authority,” says virologist Martin Stürmer in an interview with tagesschau.de.

AstraZeneca vaccination freeze caused delays

Other delays were also due to the temporary discontinuation of vaccination with AstraZeneca. That didn’t improve the vaccine’s bad reputation. In Berlin, for example, there should have been a series of canceled appointments, according to media reports.

Vaccination coordinator Albrecht Broemme gives at the request of tagesschau.de but everything is clear now. In the meantime, dating has returned to being well accepted after “jerks” in the meantime. This also coincides with the experience of Anke Richter-Scheer from North Rhine-Westphalia and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians. Most people are happy to receive some vaccine, regardless of the vaccine.

There are many signs that the vaccination campaign is also slowly accelerating in Germany. According to the experts, you don’t have to do it fundamentally differently. Much should have happened much earlier.