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Vaccines against the coronavirus have started throughout Germany. In Radeberg, Saxony, I started in a nursing home. More than 30 residents had been infected here since the beginning of the month.
Von Jens Czerwinka, MDR
In all of Germany, no other federal state has been so affected by the crown pandemic as Saxony. More than 15,000 people were infected with the virus here in the last seven days.
The situation in the Bautzen district is particularly critical: according to the Robert Koch Institute, the so-called seven-day incidence is 488.4. It shows how many residents are infected with the pathogen in a week. Nationally, only the urban district of Coburg in Bavaria and the district of Altenburger Land in Thuringia have higher values.
Great willingness to vaccinate among residents.
But now vaccination against the virus can finally start in Bautzen – it started at the municipal home for the elderly and retirees in Radeberg. First, his employees received an injection at 10 a.m., said housing manager Carolin Proske. It did not reveal how many of the more than 120 employees wanted to get vaccinated.
In his opinion, there is a great disposition among the residents of the house, Proske said. Of the roughly 180 residents, the vaccination rate would be nearly 90 percent. But those who have already tested positive or have been ill cannot participate in vaccination.
Three doctors from Radeberg carry out the vaccinations. The residents know them because they have been taking care of the house for a long time. The doctors are supported by employees of the German Red Cross and the Malteser Help Desk.
First rapid test, then vaccination
After the employees were vaccinated, doctors and a pharmacist directed residents from room to room to make it as easy as possible for residents, Proske said. After a rapid corona test, doctors spoke with residents and examined whether everyone was fit for the vaccines.
Support from armed forces
According to the house manager, there have been 32 cases of corona in the house since the beginning of December. 22 of them have already recovered. The number of cases is no longer as high as it was in the spring, Proske said.
At that time, the Bundeswehr in Saxony had to be convened for the first time. The Mayor of Radeberg, Gerhard Lemm, had requested administrative assistance through the Saxon State Command in April. At that time, 40 residents and eleven employees were infected with the virus. Eight of them died.
More help with vaccinations
Lemm also helps with vaccinations himself. He had already called the Radbergers in advance to make them available as assistants. So he takes it for granted to lend a hand. Today he will be a jumper. So he returns the chip cards to those who are willing to get vaccinated after they have been scanned.
Currently, you are only allowed to enter the nursing home with a negative corona test. Therefore, Mayor Lemm also had to be examined in the morning. Negative result.
A “ray of hope” in the pandemic
Hanna Hertzsch, an 85-year-old resident, received the first vaccine in Saxony, in Lichtentanne, near Zwickau, about 140 kilometers away.
Saxony Health Minister Petra Köpping was also present at the vaccination. He spoke of a “ray of hope” and appealed to the population to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. This is the “way out of this pandemic.”
