For many people with physical disabilities, a corona infection would be a death sentence.
But even though they belong to a high-risk group, they still have to wait for the vaccination.
And now they are afraid of sliding back further.
Since suffering from polio, Bruni Bung has to be artificially ventilated for a large part of the day.
She only has 20 percent lung volume.
Eight hours a day they support assistants in mastering their everyday lives despite all physical limitations.
To do this, they have to come very close to her - and the 65-year-old cannot wear a mask.
Because the assistants are hired on a EUR 450 basis and are not employees of an outpatient care service, they are not prioritized for vaccinations *.
And Bruni Bung also doesn't know how long she will have to wait for a vaccination appointment.
Corona in Bavaria: "I would not survive an infection"
"I would not survive an infection *," she says.
Nevertheless, she is not one of the people who are the first to be offered a vaccination.
Because of her lung disease, Bruni Bung is in priority group 2. As a group, people with physical disabilities who are not over 80 or who live in a nursing home do not appear in the vaccination ordinance at all.
“They were not taken into account,” says Rudolf Seidl.
He is the managing director of the Association for the Promotion of Integration - and has been campaigning for months to ensure that people with physical disabilities who rely on assistance are prioritized for vaccinations *.
Fast and unbureaucratic, without having to call the Bavarian Vaccination Commission.
So far, however, he has fought in vain.
The Standing Vaccination Commission did not prioritize people with physical disabilities because they are considered less mobile and their risk of infection is assumed to be lower, explains Seidl.
“But that doesn't correspond to their everyday life at all.” Like Bruni Bung, a lot of people are dependent on care assistants.
In most cases, eight assistants would take turns per week.
Every single one of them has social contacts.
“The risk for people with disabilities is huge.” The risk of falling ill - and for many also the risk of dying from Covid-19.
I live in fear of death.
Every day counts for me.
Bruni Bung
Letters to Söder, Holetschek and Reiter - people with disabilities are not prioritized for vaccinations
Seidl has written a number of letters in the past few weeks.
To Prime Minister Markus Söder, Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek, Mayor Dieter Reiter from Munich and the health department.
Only the Munich city councilor Beatrix Zurek answered him - if only with a two-sided reason why people with disabilities are not upgraded in the vaccination sequence: the vaccine is scarce, the city has no influence.
Seidl doesn't understand.
“People cannot keep the necessary distances because they need help close to their bodies.
Sometimes they can't even wear the protective masks. "
Corona vaccination sequence in Bavaria: "I can't understand that"
After the vaccination with Astrazeneca was temporarily suspended last week, Söder had called for recommendations to be made of the priorities in order to make up for lost time more quickly.
That is why many people with disabilities are now afraid of slipping further back in the vaccination sequence.
The federal and state commissioners for the disabled demanded in a joint declaration last week that the order of the vaccination ordinance should continue to be followed.
No new groups should be added to the prioritization list unless there is a high risk of serious or fatal outcome, they claim.
Within the groups, people at such high risk would have to be vaccinated first.
They also criticize the fact that individual cases take too long.
Many people had been living in self-isolation for a year.
Like Bruni Bung.
“I live in fear of death,” she says.
"Every day counts for me." Her family doctor told her that she would probably get an appointment in May at the earliest.
“I can't understand that,” she says.
"My life was never easy - but I never had to live with such great fears as I do now."
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