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Vaccine ampoules
Photo: Laci Perenyi / imago images
According to SPIEGEL information, the Federal Ministry of Health has urgently asked the Bundeswehr for logistical help in the preparation of the nationwide vaccinations against the corona virus.
In a letter to his colleague Gerd Hoofe in the Ministry of Defense ("directly to you for reasons of urgency"), State Secretary for Health Thomas Steffen requests administrative assistance with the safe interim storage of vaccines and support with distribution to vaccination centers in various federal states.
The requests to the Bundeswehr are thus for the first time concrete.
Steffen writes that all vaccines except the one from Biontech and Pfizer do not require extreme cooling.
Instead of minus 70 degrees, these could be temporarily stored at between minus 2 and 8 degrees.
In the past few days, the Bundeswehr had offered its help in various rounds on the subject - but at the same time warned that extreme cooling could not be provided.
However, in the letter from Steffen it is now said that Biontech will organize the transport of its vaccine to the vaccination centers through its own logistics chain.
Temporary storage in fenced and well-guarded barracks
That should allay concerns that the cold chain could become one of the biggest problems facing nationwide vaccination.
Initially, the Ministry of Health also feared that in the first phase of the vaccination campaign it would only be possible to vaccinate in specially established centers.
If, on the other hand, larger quantities of vaccines are quickly available that can be temporarily stored in commercially available refrigerated containers or in household refrigerators, vaccinations by general practitioners would probably even be possible.
Above all, the Ministry of Health hopes that the Bundeswehr will provide safe temporary storage of the vaccines in fenced and well-guarded barracks.
In security circles, it was said that effective security was essential.
On the one hand, large amounts of vaccination doses are quite interesting for criminals.
Above all, however, the planners fear that fanatical opponents of vaccination will block the access roads to storage sites - or attack trucks that are transporting vaccination doses.
In the past few days, the Bundeswehr has already drawn up a list of strategically well-located barracks that are suitable for temporary storage in various federal states.
Because of the concern about disruptive or sabotage actions, the locations should be kept secret as much as possible.
Since the barracks are generally robustly protected, no additional security measures would be necessary, according to the Ministry of Defense.
The Bundeswehr expects the vaccination campaign to start quickly.
In the confidential status report on all corona activities of the troops, it is said that the nationwide vaccination will probably begin by December 20 at the latest.
As a result, preparations are in full swing.
Since the troops are already working through administrative assistance in hundreds of cases for the completely overloaded health authorities and in test centers nationwide with currently slightly more than 5800 soldiers, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer recently increased the standby Corona troop by a further 5,000 to 20,000 soldiers .
In addition to safe storage, the troops are already preparing further relief measures behind the scenes.
In the military leadership, for example, it is expected that medically trained personnel will be requested when the vaccination campaign picks up speed.
According to the internal status report, the medical services within the Bundeswehr are already preparing to prioritize the personnel for this task.
At the same time, training and exercises are being postponed.
The Bundeswehr hospitals are also preparing to postpone all non-urgent operations in order to have more beds available for Covid patients.
In addition, in the coming months the troops want to offer mobile vaccination vehicles for rural areas from which paramedics can carry out vaccinations.
The mobile vaccination units are to be formed based on the model of the wiping teams, of which the Bundeswehr currently has around 70 deployed across Germany.
They drive through the republic with a transporter and about five soldiers and offer Covid-19 tests.
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