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Vaccination start in the family doctor's office: bureaucracy and a shortage of vaccines slow down the “vaccination turbo”

2021-03-31T12:07:43.574Z


With the corona vaccination in general practitioners' practices, the vaccination strategy in Germany is to be put on a second pillar. It starts today in Bavaria.


With the corona vaccination in general practitioners' practices, the vaccination strategy in Germany is to be put on a second pillar.

It starts today in Bavaria.

Munich

- As of today (March 31), the vaccinations * in the general practitioners' practices in Bavaria will start.

The two-pronged strategy of vaccinations in the centers and the administration of vaccines to general practitioners is intended to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus * more quickly.

However, some factors could hold back the committed plan.

The recently decided restriction on the Astrazeneca vaccine is just one more hurdle to triggering the “vaccination turbo” evoked by Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU).

Corona vaccination in general practitioners' practices: No access to the vaccination portal

For the Munich family doctor Friedrich Kiener, Wednesday begins with a trip to the pharmacy.

The doctor picks up his first 20 vaccine doses, writes the

BR

.

He is sure that the vaccine * will be distributed very quickly - his waiting list is long.

But even before the first pinprick, the first bureaucratic hurdle is in his way.

He doesn't know who of his patients has already been vaccinated.

For reasons of data protection law, the doctor has no access to the Bavarian vaccination portal.

"It would have been much easier for us to look in the vaccination portal to see who has already been vaccinated by our patients and who has not." The consequence - he had to call them all.

When it comes to data protection, Health Minister Holetschek is currently unable to accommodate the doctors.

But he knows that “bureaucracy and pandemic * don't go together.” And so one wants to give general practitioners at least more freedom when it comes to choosing their patients.

You should be able to decide for yourself whether the chronically ill or the elderly should be vaccinated first, writes the

BR

.

The country chief Markus Söder * (CSU) also sees it that way.

Vaccination should not be based on rigid categories, but rather flexibly according to the occurrence of the infection and the medical judgment.

Pilot project for vaccination in general practitioners' practices in Berchtesgadener Land (video)

Corona vaccination in general practitioners' practices: pharmacists are struggling with an elaborate ordering process

But not only the doctors have to struggle with a high level of bureaucratic effort.

The pharmacists also groan about the regulations.

The chairman of the Bavarian Pharmacists' Association, Hans-Peter Hubmann, told the

BR

: “The ordering process is extremely time-consuming because once thawed vaccines can only be kept for a few days.” For this purpose, a “sophisticated ordering process” has been developed at the federal level.

"It was a very complex procedure, but only that ensured that family doctors could vaccinate within a very short time and before Easter - and that as the only federal state at all," says Hubmann.

Another problem is the supply of vaccines.

It is difficult to distribute the small amount of vaccine fairly, said Hubmann.

“We have to allocate the few vaccines we have in such a way that if possible everyone receives a certain amount and can then actually vaccinate with it.” Doctors therefore have to place their order a week in advance.

Corona vaccination in general practitioners' practices: herd immunity in three months

In any case, family doctor Kiener is sure, despite all the problems, that herd immunity can only be achieved quickly with the additional route via the practice, writes the

BR

.

To clarify, he sets up a calculation example: Around 50,000 general practitioners would vaccinate against the coronavirus in Germany in the future.

According to Kiener, it is realistic that the doctors vaccinate 20 patients a day.

"That would be 20 million in one month, if you did the whole three months, we would only have 60 million Germans vaccinated in general practitioners' practices alone."

According to Kiener, the only unpredictable constant in his calculation is the amount of vaccine available.

And the reclassification of the Astrazeneca vaccine * by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) also plays a role.

Holetschek once again defended the effectiveness of the vaccine despite the renewed restriction that the vaccine could only be distributed to people over the age of 60.

“One thing remains: that the vaccine is effective in spite of everything.” Nevertheless, the general practitioners now have little choice but to reschedule Astrazeneca vaccination appointments.

(tel)

* Merkur.de / bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-03-31

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