Coronavirus: what changes in the vaccination regulations?

The Federal Minister of Health, Spahn, has already signed it; The new Corona vaccination ordinance will now also be published today. With this, some changes in the procedure and organization of vaccinations come into effect.

Who can get vaccinated when and where? This is regulated by the federal coronavirus vaccination ordinance. The current version dates from February 8 and was modified on February 24. Health Minister Jens Spahn has now signed the new vaccination ordinance. She is that Ed In front. During the day it will be officially published and will come into effect retrospectively from March 8.

A deviation from the vaccination sequence is possible

This now opens up the possibility of deviating from the vaccination sequence that is actually set according to priorities in regions where the virus is currently spreading especially rapidly.

Also, some people have been added to priority groups or upgraded. You can get a vaccination appointment faster with him. In the second category, “High priority vaccines”, there are now additional people who are active “in the context of a medical profession with a high or increased risk of exposure.”

Employees of diplomatic missions or political foundations who work in places where medical care is inadequate are now also included in this group. New to the third category – “Highest Priority Vaccines” – are poll workers.

Also, there have been some small changes to the rules on pre-existing conditions. For example, specific blood sugar values ​​for diabetics have been removed. Instead, “people with diabetes mellitus with complications” are now included in the second highest priority group.

Maximize the distance between the first and second vaccination

The new regulation now also foresees that the distance between the first and the second vaccination is extended as much as possible. With BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna funding, a six week gap should now generally be observed, with AstraZeneca twelve weeks. However, appointments that have already been agreed should not be postponed.

Another important change with respect to the previous regulations can be found in the topic of “provision of services”. The company’s medical practices and physicians are now mentioned here as well. As soon as the vaccine is available to them, they too can vaccinate. The exact way in which everything is organized, including cooperation between vaccination centers, mobile teams and practices, should be regulated by each country. The health ministers conference agreed on Wednesday that practices should probably begin with vaccinations from mid-April.

In addition, statutory and private health insurers will be able in the future to use available data to identify people who are entitled to priority vaccination due to illness and then inform them accordingly. The central association of health insurers must create an assignment of the corresponding diagnosis codes before March 18 and then inform the central association of health insurance. It is also intended that the respective letters from the insurance companies will be used as proof of eligibility for vaccination. The responsible state health authorities should determine this in each case.