Countries rely on mobile vaccination because of falling vaccination numbers

Germany's corona vaccination progress is slowing, although the incidence is rising again.

The federal states now want to convince citizens of the injection with creative solutions.

Berlin - In view of the falling demand for corona vaccinations, the federal states are increasingly relying on flexible solutions to reach more people.

This is the result of a survey by the German Press Agency.

Interest in vaccination is waning in many places, and vaccination centers are being closed in some places.

In addition, there are more and more mobile vaccination teams, and in many places people can get an injection without an appointment.

Despite the falling numbers, only a few vaccine doses have expired so far.

According to information from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the number of vaccine doses administered daily is falling in Germany.

For example, only 572,482 doses were injected on Tuesday, compared to the high of 1.5 million on June 9.

The vaccination centers in particular recorded a decline, according to the Central Institute for Health Insurance.

But the medical practices are also far from the record.

At the same time, the incidence is rising again.

So far, a little more than 60 percent of the population has received at least one first vaccination, according to the RKI.

In the Hessian vaccination centers, around 20 percent did not show up for their appointments, as the Interior Ministry announced. According to the health administration, around 20 percent of the appointments were also not used in Berlin. According to the Ministry of Health, the national vaccination centers in Thuringia are only half full. In Baden-Württemberg, the number of first vaccinations in the vaccination centers has recently plummeted by 70 percent, according to the Ministry of Health.

The low occupancy rate means that more and more vaccination centers are closing. Bavaria closed the first centers last week, capacity was also partially reduced in the remaining centers - and the shutdown of further fixed locations is being prepared. In Berlin, the Tempelhof vaccination center closed on Wednesday, with three more to follow by the end of August. In Thuringia, of four supra-regional vaccination centers, only the one in Erfurt is to be continued beyond the summer. Baden-Württemberg's regional centers are scheduled to close in mid-August. Other states such as Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony want to keep their centers open until the end of September.

The intensive care doctor Uwe Janssens expressed concern about the development. “We know from various calculations that if we fail to vaccinate 85 percent of 59 to 70 year olds, then in autumn we will have similar conditions in the intensive care units as at the beginning of the year, up to 6,000 intensive care patients,” said Janssens the channels RTL / ntv on Wednesday. However, he spoke out against compulsory vaccination for nursing staff.

In order to reach more people, many countries rely on flexible vaccination offers. "If the people do not come to the vaccinations, then the vaccinations have to come to the people," stressed Thuringia's Minister of Health Heike Werner (Linke). "Whether a vaccination in the football stadium, mobile vaccination teams on market and supermarket squares or vaccinations without an appointment in the centers - all initiatives are welcome," said Baden-Württemberg's head of department, Manne Lucha (Greens). Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Health, Petra Grimm-Benne (SPD), announced on Monday that she would once again “turn on the vaccination turbo” until the end of the vaccination centers in September.

In many countries there are mobile vaccination teams on the go, or vaccinations are carried out well into the night.

Bremen vaccinates foreign seafarers directly on their ships.

In Thuringia, you can get a bratwurst in Sonneberg by syringe.

In Berlin there are drive-in or walk-in vaccinations at an Ikea branch.

In many places you can get an injection in vaccination centers without an appointment.

The chairman of the board of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, however, dampened expectations for such methods.

"Mobile vaccination offers can help to reach people, but you will probably not make the right distance with them," said Gassen.

"There is a relevant number of people who simply do not want to be vaccinated."

According to the Länder, only a small amount of the vaccine had to be disposed of.

In Saxony, for example, around 8,700 cans were disposed of, among other things because of damaged or incorrectly filled ampoules, said a spokeswoman for the German Red Cross (DRK).

The Bavarian Ministry of Health reported the expiry of 1751 cans.

Some countries have few problems with vaccinations.

In Bremen, the appointments at the vaccination center are usually fully booked and canceled appointments are quickly reassigned, said a spokeswoman for the health department.

Lower Saxony does not plan to reduce capacity before the end of September.

According to the government and the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, vaccination fatigue is currently not a major problem in Schleswig-Holstein.

dpa