Dr.
Stephan Herf is desperate.
The general practitioner from Dachau fears that the time of solidarity in the Corona crisis is over.
This is shown by the fact that many older people do not want the vaccine approved for them.
He calls for solidarity - and wants the disease to come into focus, not the discussion about vaccination.
Dachau - The number of corona infections is increasing, the Helios Amperklinik is filling up again with Covid 19 patients (see interview at the end). Now the "vaccination turbo" has been ignited in the district, all over 60 year olds should receive a vaccination offer this week. But 15 to 20 percent of people who receive a vaccination offer reject the Astrazeneca vaccine, reports District Administrator Stefan Löwl.
Dr.
Stephan Herf angry.
“What really irritates me personally is the loss of solidarity: I vaccinate not only for myself, but also for others.
The Dachau doctor therefore demands that the disease should come back into focus, not the discussion about vaccination.
He reports on a 47-year-old Covid patient who died after three weeks and left three children;
from a 20-year-old without symptoms who only has 70 percent of his lung volume after the quarantine.
"This disease is incalculable" - and the vaccination with Astrazeneca is very effective.
That is why Herf demands solidarity from the elderly: "For a year the younger ones gave up everything for the elderly, now the elderly are not allowed to abandon the young!" The prick is an expression of sociality.
For a year and a month, Dr.
Stephan Herf busy with Corona.
He set up an infection practice early on, he is in the district's pandemic group.
He has to admit patients with Covid-19 to hospital almost every week.
The general practitioner from Dachau has been vaccinating in practice for around a month, initially with mobile teams.
“You can be sure that you have been vaccinated well with Astra,” says Herf, quoting the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which unreservedly recommend the vaccine.
The fact that the vaccine was initially not approved for the elderly in Germany was due only to a lack of data, not to possible side effects.
One could have said back then that the vaccine is especially good for the elderly, emphasizes the doctor.
"The side effects of Astrazeneca are strong in younger people in 25 to 50 percent of the cases." However, these usually went away in a day or two.
On the one hand, this is a disadvantage, but at the same time an advantage of the vaccine: According to Herf, Astrazeneca provides very good protection against death and severe disease even after the first vaccination.
“Biontech cannot do that,” says Herf.
"Biontech needs two vaccinations so that you can feel safe." Biontech-vaccinated people would have to "shake six weeks longer until they are really protected".
The probability that vaccinated people will come into contact with the virus is currently still too high: With an incidence of 118, according to Herf, one can assume that we are at 200 or even higher.
"And in order to get out of the pandemic quickly, it is important that as many people as possible get out of the danger zone quickly - and Astrazeneca is currently the best option for older people."
But some older patients reject Astrazeneca - they are unsettled about the reported cases of sinus vein thrombosis.
Herf has little understanding for this, as the vaccination success in England was largely based on the Astrazeneca vaccination.
However, there is data to suggest that vaccination-related complications may very rarely occur in younger people.
"When a 75-year-old woman tells me that she can only get Biontech, that Astrazeneca is not good - then I have in my head: If she had a granddaughter, she would take the vaccine away from the granddaughter."
In addition, Dr.
Here's the following scenario: Once the offer has been made to all over 60-year-olds, Dachau slides one level lower in prioritization.
Then those eligible for vaccination will become younger and younger - and those who are digitally on their toes may get a chance faster.
"I fear that the elderly will then be left behind."
You can also vaccinate in solidarity to protect small children, says Herf.
The risk of having a fatal accident on the way to the practice is greater than the risk of getting a possible side effect.
At the moment it is clearly scientifically demonstrable that the protection of Astrazeneca prevails.
His recommendation is therefore clear: "All older people can be vaccinated with Astrazeneca, all younger people with Biontech - and the main thing is fast!"
It is herf "that we are moving closer together again so that the vaccination campaign here in the district is successful".
The Dachau doctor advises people to take their vaccination appointment.
Those who refuse the vaccination, however, wish "not to get the vaccination through the B117 variant" - the contagious British variant of the coronavirus that is currently prevalent in Dachau.
How many Covid 19 patients are currently being treated at the clinic?
Alexander von Freyburg: Currently, 20 Covid-19 patients are being treated in the clinic, 16 of them in the normal ward and four in the intensive care center.
How do you rate the increase?
As in the first two waves, the number of patients requiring inpatient treatment increases two to three weeks after the increase in incidence.
Accordingly, it is unfortunately to be expected that the number of Covid 19 patients in our clinic will continue to increase.
The modeling models of the Robert Koch Institute and the DIVI raise concerns that the peak from the second wave will be reached and exceeded.
Are there differences in the course of the disease and the average age of the patients compared to a year ago?
Due to the well advanced vaccination campaign in priority group one, the average age of the patients has decreased significantly.
The vaccination is highly effective in preventing infections and inpatient stays.
The course of the disease itself has changed little, but we are now also seeing significantly more severe courses of the disease in younger patients, which require a longer inpatient or even intensive care stay.
What is the mood like in the workforce? Does the workload in the pandemic, which is certainly debilitating, affect the mood?
Prof. Dr.
Hjalmar Hagedorn: We are continuing to deal professionally with the pandemic situation.
But of course we would all be happy if the third corona wave didn't reach the level of the second wave.
And we would be very happy if our daily work would soon return to normal.
Interview: no
