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VACCINATION

Germany to make vaccines available at GP practices: What you need to know

Germany's general practitioners are expected to start coronavirus vaccinations nationwide after Easter - but with initially only around 20 appointments per week.

Published: 19 March 2021 17:54 CET
Germany to make vaccines available at GP practices: What you need to know
Vaccine jabs at a doctor's office in Senftenberg, Brandenburg, which were already delivered in March ahead of the April roll-out across Germany. Photo: DPA

That’s according to a draft resolution from the Chancellor’s Office, which the federal and state governments discussed at their vaccination summit on Friday.

“With the quantities we expect in the first weeks of April, (…) it will be possible to start with about the equivalent of one vaccination consultation hour per week in GP practices,” said Health Minister Jens Spahn of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in Berlin on Friday.

READ ALSO: Here’s the German vocabulary you need to get the Covid-19 vaccine

Step by step, there will be more vaccinations, he said. Last week, before the interruption of vaccinations with manufacturer AstraZeneca, Germany’s 16 states injected almost 1.8 million vaccine jabs. 

In the week after Easter, almost 3.3 million doses are to be delivered throughout the country. According to the draft, doctors in private practice are to administer about one million doses. 

With 50,000 practices participating, that would be 20 doses per week.

There is to be a boost three weeks later: In the last week of April, 5.4 million doses are to be delivered, 3.2 million of which are to be administered in the practices. 

Then, for the first time, more doses could be administered at practices than at the vaccination centres.

For the centres, 2.25 million doses per week are to be reserved, according to the Chancellery draft. In some states, vaccinations are already possible in selected medical practices, for example those treating cancer patients. 

How will hot spot border areas benefit?

According to the plans, 270,000 BioNtech/Pfizer vaccine doses from a 580,000-dose supplementary delivery will be used to ensure a minimum of one million vaccine doses for doctors’ offices in the weeks after Easter. 

The remaining 310,000 vaccine doses would then be earmarked for use in particularly affected border areas. Specifically, the paper names Saarland because of its proximity to the French department of Moselle, and Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia because of the critical situation on the border with the Czech Republic. 

The draft does not yet specify how many vaccine doses are to go to which state.

READ ALSO: When will I be in line for a Covid-19 vaccination in Germany?

What will the role of AstraZeneca be?

The new vaccination plan was made possible, in part, through a decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) the day before. After a new review, the EMA reaffirmed its assessment that the vaccine from the British-Swedish manufacturer AstraZeneca should continue to be administered. 

Spahn temporarily suspended vaccinations with the AstraZeneca  vaccine on Monday after several cases of blood clots in veins were reported following the jab.

Vials of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: Joel Saget/AFP

“The benefits of vaccination outweigh the currently known risks,” Germany’s Standing Commission on Vaccination ruled. 

Since Friday, the jab has been available for use again in Germany. However, an extra warning about the possible rare blood clots should be added.

READ ALSO: Germany to use AstraZeneca vaccine from Friday

Who will receive priority?

According to the draft, the doctors should first invite particularly vulnerable patients to get their jabs. 

Spahn urged the states to protect people with pre-existing conditions and high risks of severe or fatal Covid-19 courses first. 

Social Democratic (SPD) health politician Karl Lauterbach said: “The risk of dying from Covid in the case of an infection is 600 times higher for an 80-year-old than for a 30-year-old. That’s why I’m very critical of proposals to change the vaccination sequence.” 

The fact that teachers, for example, are given priority vaccinations in some areas, as is the case in North Rhine-Westphalia, has provoked criticism for days. 

Disability advocates called for people with an increased risk of a severe to fatal course of the disease to be vaccinated first.

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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?

Published: 20 September 2023 12:05 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2023 22:22 CEST
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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