In order to speed up the booster vaccinations against the coronavirus, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has asked the municipalities to set up permanent vaccination centers. Cities and districts should ensure that offers are as close to home as possible, according to a decree issued by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. The supplementary vaccination offers could be used for first and second vaccinations as well as for booster vaccinations.
Düsseldorf - “The vaccination progress is of central importance for the coming months.
We have to increase our pace here, ”stressed Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU).
The vaccination centers should be able to react flexibly to local demand.
Places could be gyms or empty shops.
If necessary, appointment scheduling systems could be used, and the costs for these systems would be billed to the state.
"The further costs for the inpatient vaccination offers are also borne by the federal government and the state." The medical staff for the vaccination centers are provided by the associations of statutory health insurance physicians.
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In principle, refreshments could be offered to anyone who wanted this six months after the first series of vaccinations, said Laumann.
The City Council of North Rhine-Westphalia had stated that it needed some time in advance and that the state would take over the costs.
The Ministry of Health (MAGS) had refused to reactivate the nationwide vaccination centers because they were "oversized" and too expensive.
Instead, cities and districts should now create the vaccination centers to support the practices with booster vaccinations.
In view of the rapidly increasing infections, the Wesel district asked the MAGS to reactivate the vaccination center there.
In addition, one should return to free test offers as soon as possible.
Some cities had already had permanent vaccination sites approved by the MAGS, including Bochum, Bonn, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Wuppertal.
dpa