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HEALTH

German care home workers accidentally given Covid-19 vaccine dose five times

Eight care home workers in Germany were accidentally injected with five doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, local authorities said Monday -- but are suffering no serious ill effects so far.

German care home workers accidentally given Covid-19 vaccine dose five times
The coronavirus vaccine being administered in Bremen. Photo: DPA

The seven women and one man, aged between 38 and 54, are employees of a retirement home in the town of Stralsund in northeastern Germany.

They are therefore in a priority group and among the first to receive the
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which Germany began rolling out at the
weekend.

READ ALSO: First doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine arrive in German regions

But as they were being inoculated on Sunday, they were each injected with
five doses at once, according to Stefan Kerth, the administrator of the
district where the facility is located.

They were immediately informed of the error, Kerth said.

Four were admitted to hospital for observation with mild flu-like symptoms, while the others were sent home.

“I deeply regret this incident,” Kerth said, adding that the mistake was an isolated case and down to human error.

“I hope all those affected suffer no serious side effects,” he said.

Ahead of the launch of vaccination campaigns in several European countries at the weekend, German company BioNTech said larger than normal doses had been injected during trials without serious side effects.

The vaccine, created in less than a year and designed to be administered in two injections, is being delivered in vials that each contain five doses once diluted.

However, a spokeswoman for the health ministry said Monday that the vials could each be used to give up to six doses.

Member comments

  1. Come on! What the hell is going on here? If they can’t even administer a single dose correctly, how can we have confidence that it’s even being distributed fairly. This is the typical outcome when something is rushed, it becomes a flustercluck.

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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