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In Germany, the vaccination ordinance defines who can be vaccinated and when
Photo: McKinsey Jordan / Stocksy United
You can currently neither queue for the latest smartphone nor for particularly popular concert tickets.
Nevertheless, a large part of Germany stands in a very long queue.
Most of them do not even have a vague idea how many people are actually waiting in front of them or when it is finally their turn - with the vaccination.
Almost 3.3 million vaccine doses were administered as of February 8th.
Almost a million people have already received the second of two necessary vaccine doses.
Many of them live or work in nursing homes, so they have the highest risk of becoming seriously ill or infecting particularly vulnerable people in the event of a coronavirus infection.
Next to them, people 80 and over and certain medical professionals are first in line.
By the end of March all people in this first vaccination group should have had the opportunity to be vaccinated, said Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) last week.
Accordingly, people who have the second highest priority according to the vaccination ordinance can be vaccinated from the beginning of April.
People aged 80 and over in need of care can name two people who are to be vaccinated
In this second group, a lot has happened due to a change in the vaccination ordinance; the new version of the ordinance came into force this Monday.
Above all, people with certain pre-existing illnesses have moved up who would previously only have had their appointment in the third vaccination group.
Group two still includes people aged 70 and over, people with trisomy 21, people with dementia and people who have had an organ transplant.
Newly arranged in group two are:
People with a severe psychiatric illness, particularly bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or severe depression
Cancer patients and people whose cancer was less than five years ago
People with severe chronic lung diseases such as COPD or cystic fibrosis,
People with cirrhosis or other chronic liver disease,
People with chronic kidney disease,
People with diabetes mellitus in whom the so-called HbA1c level is at least 7.5 percent,
People with a body mass index over 40, i.e. very overweight.
In addition, people aged 80 and over in need of care and pregnant women can now name two close contact persons who will be vaccinated with high priority.
Previously, according to the regulation, they had to limit themselves to one contact.
No quick solution for hardship cases
In addition, people can now join the group with the second highest vaccination priority, "who, according to an individual medical assessment, have a very high or high risk of a serious or fatal course of the disease in individual cases due to special circumstances" after a corona infection, according to the revised regulation .
According to the regulation, those affected do not come into the group with the highest priority, which is currently being vaccinated.
Many, for example cancer patients, had hoped for a hardship regulation that would also open up this group.
It would be crucial for them to get immunized before an upcoming chemotherapy.
In mid-January, a cancer patient in Hamburg had a faster corona vaccination.
Previously, the ordinance stated that those willing to be vaccinated should be vaccinated in the specified order - which left authorities and courts room to maneuver in individual cases.
Now it is said, however, "the federal states and the federal government have to use the existing vaccine in such a way" that the order is taken into account.
The two things combined result in: With a hardship rule, those affected will probably only be in the second vaccination group, or depending on the situation in the third, but they cannot hope for a vaccination in February or March.
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