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The responsibility for vaccinations now rests on the shoulders of the general practitioners
Photo: Heidi Mayer / plainpicture
My grandfather will be 87 years old in December, or as he says: "I'm not the youngest anymore either." He lives in a village near Würzburg with around 7,600 inhabitants.
The number of his contacts is manageable.
He goes to church to do the shopping, every now and then the children and grandchildren come to visit, he only goes to the doctor "if there's a problem".
Most of the people he meets have become more careless, myself included.
Many have been vaccinated and have returned to normal a little.
2G regulations in restaurants or cinemas underline this feeling.
Vaccination breakthroughs are more dangerous for the elderly
For a week now, the nationwide corona incidence has been over 100 again, and the number of new infections is increasing.
The intensive care units are also filling up, unfortunately with people who are fully vaccinated.
Statistically this is a normal effect.
As the current RKI weekly report shows, it is above all those over 60 years of age who suffer from severe disease despite being fully vaccinated.
Your immune system reacts worse to the vaccination anyway, and your vaccination series was a long time ago.
My grandfather was vaccinated in March at the vaccination center with the remedy from Moderna.
So for a few weeks now I've been worried again.
What if my grandpa is infected now?
How well is he then protected from a severe Covid-19 course?
Google?
A hurdle for the elderly
So I asked him if he would be vaccinated for the third time.
"Yeah, sure," he said.
But so far no one has contacted him.
The last time he got a letter.
And only recently he went to the family doctor in the village for the flu vaccination, who would have told him if he had needed the corona vaccination too.
I called his family doctor.
Since my grandfather was vaccinated in the vaccination center, he was not listed as a possible vaccination candidate, I was told.
In addition, the family doctor could unfortunately not vaccinate my grandpa because he was only vaccinating Biontech.
They would refrain from switching from one mRNA vaccine to another due to the lack of clearly defined guidelines.
There are still the mobile vaccination teams that I should contact.
I googled.
Here at the latest my grandpa would have been at the end of what was possible for him.
Born in 1934, he has neither a computer nor a smartphone.
Operating his senior cell phone is already overwhelming for him.
I googled that a mobile vaccination team will be ready for an afternoon in his village in a month. Which vaccines are then administered there was not mentioned. Even a call to the hotline mentioned could not clarify this. I should try his family doctor, they are the number one contact now.
I carefully read the Stiko recommendations again.
“If possible, the mRNA vaccine that was used for the primary vaccination should be used for the booster vaccination.
If this is not available or has not yet been approved for booster vaccination, the other mRNA vaccine can also be used, ”it says.
I called the family doctor again, this time a different practice assistant was on the phone.
I quoted from the Stiko recommendations and requested the third vaccination for my grandfather.
Oh, you have Moderna there, unfortunately only very few ampoules.
You couldn't open a whole ampoule for individual patients and then throw away the rest.
However, you can put Grandpa on the waiting list and call him when there are enough vaccinated people.
Trust is with the family doctor
I told my grandpa the family doctor would be in touch.
He was satisfied and is now waiting for a call from his doctor, whom he trusts on health issues.
My grandpa would not have been on this waiting list on his own initiative.
Just as he got an appointment at the vaccination center for the first and second vaccination only thanks to my mother.
Inevitably, the question arises how many other older people feel the same way.
And how many feel the same way who have not yet been vaccinated.
Relying on your own initiative for third-party vaccinations ignores the reality of life for many old people, for whom the booster vaccination this winter can be vital.
This is where family doctors should come into play.
When the vaccination campaign started at the vaccination centers at the beginning of the year, there was a great outcry from the resident doctors.
They wanted to be included.
After all, they are the ones who are closest to their patients, whom their patients trusted.
It was not until Easter that they received vaccine and were able to significantly boost the vaccination campaign.
Perhaps my grandfather's case is an annoying exception.
But we also receive letters from the editorial office that describe similar complications.
According to Stiko recommendations, 15 million people should receive a booster vaccination by the end of the year.
So far, only around two million people have taken advantage of the offer.
A spokesman for the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians said to me the other day, when I asked why doctors in private practice do not call or write to their patients: Some practices did that, but many could not do it.
He is now hoping for "the power of grandchildren and children".
But what about those who have no grandchildren or children?
Or whose grandchildren and children can no longer see through the flood of information themselves?
Yes, the Minister of Health has now promoted third-party vaccination.
But his ministry points out that implementation is a matter of the state.
In Bavaria, where my grandfather lives and the incidences are over 200, the family doctors are referred again.
After the family doctors were not involved for a long time at the beginning of the year, the responsibility for the vaccination suddenly rests almost entirely on their shoulders.
You need to educate, remember and vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate.
It is clear that this will be a huge challenge in autumn, when other respiratory viruses are also in circulation, the flu vaccination is due and the corona cases are rising again.
Even a call from the Minister of Health, who advertises a booster vaccination for everyone, probably does not really make their everyday work easier.
But it is also an opportunity.
Because as they once said: the family doctors are closest to the patient and enjoy their trust.
So if an over 80-year-old comes to you for the flu vaccination, you could use the opportunity to check his vaccination card and inject the corona vaccination directly into the other arm.