Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

VACCINATIONS

IN NUMBERS: Is Germany ramping up the Covid-19 vaccine rollout?

Germany is holding a vaccine summit to discuss if people who are fully inoculated should get more freedoms. So how is the vaccination campaign going - and is it being ramped up enough?

Published: 26 April 2021 16:29 CEST
IN NUMBERS: Is Germany ramping up the Covid-19 vaccine rollout?
People waiting for a vaccination in Berlin on Monday. Photo: DPA

How many people have been inoculated?

Up until April 25th, around 23.4 percent of the German population (19.48 million people) had received one dose of a vaccine against coronavirus. Around 5.9 million people (7.2 percent of the total population) are fully vaccinated.

How many people are getting injections every day?

Since the start of April when the German government began allowing doctors to give out Covid-19 jabs, the pace has picked up. However, there are still large differences between days.

The country scored a big success on Wednesday April 7th when a record of more than 656,000 jabs were delivered in a day.

The highest amount of jabs ever given out since the campaign began at the end of December 2020 was on April 14th. A total of 772,206 Covid injections were administered on this day.

READ ALSO: Germany’s GPs begin vaccinating patients against Covid-19

However, the numbers can drop considerably on certain days – particularly weekends. On Sunday just 266,784 injections were given out across the country.

Typically around 300,000 to 700,000 injections are given out to people in Germany on a weekday.

READ ALSO:

Some local authorities have been slammed for not making a bigger effort to carry out vaccinations at the weekend and on holidays. At Easter some states announced they were closing their vaccination centres on the public holidays.

The below chart on Germany’s Impfdashboard (vaccination dashboard) shows the spike in vaccinations when doctors joined the programme at the start of April. You’ll also be able to see how vaccines seem to pick up mid-week but dip at the weekend.

The light blue shows people who’ve had one shot and the dark blue means both doses or fully vaccinated.

The UK by comparison had its most successful day on March 20th when it delivered 844,285 jabs. The availability of vaccines has fluctuated in the country. The seven-day rolling average for the number of vaccinations given out in the UK per day stands at 500,934.

What’s the latest on German states?

There are still large differences in vaccination progress between the federal states.

The front-runners are Saarland and Bremen, where more than 25 percent of the population has been given one dose. At the other end, Berlin has delivered doses to 22 percent of its population, while Hesse is trailing behind, with 21.5 percent of people having received one dose there.

The below map on Germany’s vaccination dashboard shows the full picture of the progress by states and the percentage of people who have had one jab.

German journalist Olaf Gersemann wrote on Twitter that in Bremen, Saarland and Thuringia more than a fifth of the 60 plus age group has received a vaccination. However, he notes that Brandenburg did not report any vaccinations on Sunday.

Who can receive a jab right now?

German states are inoculating people aged 70 to 79. Some people in the 60-69 age group are also being vaccinated in areas when there is enough vaccine doses. This will be ramped up in the coming weeks.

Staff in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, daycare staff, and many teachers, as well as people with certain health conditions are also getting their jabs.

Pregnant women are also able to designate two close contacts to receive the vaccine.

As we mentioned above, adults of any age are allowed to apply for the AstraZeneca jab in the four German states of Berlin, Bavaria, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

However, it will depend on a detailed consultation with a doctor and availability of vaccine doses.

READ MORE: Can I get the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany if I’m not on the priority list?

The aim is to offer every adult in Germany a Covid-19 vaccine by September 21st.

How can Germany speed up the vaccine rollout?

This week there is expected to be a big boost to the rollout as family doctors are set to receive three million doses a week.

Since the beginning of April they have received around 940,000 a week.

Anecdotally, we’ve heard that specialist doctors in Berlin – not just GPs – are also starting to order vaccine supplies to give out to patients as more become available.

The vaccine summit on Monday is looking at what freedoms vaccinated people should get. Politicians will also address how to speed up the campaign. They will look at questions such as:

– When can more specialists and company doctors get involved in the rollout?

– How long should the priority list be in place? Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn said last week it should be lifted in June so that all adults are offered the jab – but warned that doesn’t mean everyone can get one immediately.

READ ALSO: ‘We won’t be able to vaccinate everyone in June’ warns German health minister

– Why are many elderly and sick people still waiting for a vaccination appointment due to bureaucratic failures in some places?

At the weekend CSU leader Markus Söder suggested vaccinating significantly more within workplaces and families.

The Bavarian state premier furthermore proposed to completely release all vaccines as early as May and also to increasingly vaccinate schoolchildren over the age of 16.

“We need company vaccinations, we need family vaccinations,” said the Bavarian premier on Sunday to broadcaster ARD, referring to the situations in which he said the infection was prone to spread the quickest.

On Monday car manufacturer Daimler said it has “made all the preparations to be able to start the vaccinations immediately as soon as this is possible for company doctors”, according to chief human resources officer Wilfried Porth.

Employees there have been able to register for a vaccination appointment with the company medical service via an online platform since Monday.

As soon as there is enough availability, and the government gives company doctors the green light, Daimler will start to inoculate employees, the firm said.

How does Germany compare to other countries?

Germany’s vaccination campaign has been very sluggish compared to some other countries – and doesn’t come close to the countries leading the race: Israel, the UK and the US.

The graph below by Our World in Data shows the share of the population who have received at least one dose of vaccine across several countries.

The below chart shows the share of the population who have been fully inoculated against coronavirus.

Why is Germany lagging behind?

Apart from an initial EU-wide shortage of vaccine supplies, many people consider German bureaucracy, different state procedures and the inflexible vaccination prioritisation list to be causing problems.

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

Medical staff are also not allowed to stray from the priority list, sparking concerns that vaccine doses are being left unused. This prompted four states to scrap the priority list for AstraZeneca last week, allowing all adults to sign up for it if they have a consultation with their doctor.

Germany also suffered setbacks on the speed of the campaign after suspending the AstraZeneca vaccine to investigate a possible connection to blood clots.

Member comments

    1. Yep. & Söder causing confusion – my entire Industry (Live Events) is closed because of Covid. None of us work in a factory, or go to school, but Söder wants all thiose vaccinated as a priority. Söder & the rest do not care a fig for Freelancers or any Entertainment except Opera & Orchestra – again, we don’t exist to them.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

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

SHOW COMMENTS