Coronavirus vaccination in pharmacies starts today

Created: 02/08/2022, 08:38

By: Tanja Koch

Sandra Fundel, pharmacist in the pharmacy at Bahnhof Zoo, stands in front of the shop window with vaccination equipment.

In Berlin, the first pharmacies will be offering corona vaccinations from next Tuesday.

© Christophe Gateau/dpa

From this week, pharmacies can also vaccinate against the corona virus.

is this too late

And what do consumers need to know?

Berlin – A particularly large number of pharmacies are not yet included: 500 of the approximately 18,500 pharmacies in Germany will officially vaccinate against Covid-19 from Tuesday (February 8).

However, the number will gradually increase, as reported by the ABDA - Federal Union of German Pharmacists' Associations, according to dpa and afp.

The pharmacies are currently “very busy due to special tasks such as issuing the vaccination card and corona tests,” said the President of the Federal Union of German Pharmacists’ Associations (ABDA), Gabriele Regina Overwiening, to the “Handelsblatt”.

In addition, due to the Omicron variant*, there are absences due to illness and quarantine.

The association had declared at the end of January that the vaccinations* were "an additional, voluntary offer" that the management of a pharmacy decided on.

Around 25,000 doses have been ordered for the pharmacies.

Anyone interested in making an appointment for vaccinations in a pharmacy can use the online portal www.mein-apothekenmanager.de from Tuesday to find out who is participating in the campaign in the area.

Appointments can also be booked there.

In addition to booster vaccinations, first and second vaccinations are also possible.

Coronavirus vaccination in pharmacies requires training

In December, the Bundestag paved the way for corona vaccinations by pharmacists, dentists and veterinarians to break the fourth corona wave.

The prerequisite is that the premises of the pharmacy are suitable.

Alternatively, integration into mobile vaccination teams is possible.

Vaccination training is also required.

According to the ABDA, a good 6,000 pharmacists have now completed the necessary training.

A good half qualified again, the other facilities had already taken part in a model project for flu vaccinations in pharmacies in 2020.

The vaccination license obtained in this context now also applies to corona vaccinations.

For dentists, it looks like vaccinations will start before Easter in the first practices.

"We expect that the practices will start between Carnival and Easter," said a spokesman for the North Rhine Dental Association.

In the case of veterinarians, on the other hand, there are calls for the legal framework to be improved.

A spokesman said that it was about the question of whether veterinarians are also covered by liability law for vaccinations in their own practices.

The transfer of information on how many vaccinations have been carried out also poses organizational challenges for the doctors.

The pharmacies now pass the data on to the RKI on a daily basis.

Is the coronavirus vaccination in pharmacies too late?

Vaccination in pharmacies was originally a measure to break the fourth corona wave.

It is now too late for that – the incidences are already exploding.

Nevertheless, the campaign starts on Tuesday.

“In any case, it makes sense for the pharmacies to start with it,” quotes RTL virologist Prof. Alexander Kekulé.

According to Prof. Kekulé, Germany “had a relatively large number of people. In the meantime, the demand for vaccinations is no longer so high or has already been met.

It is nevertheless important that the pharmacies “practice beforehand”, since new variants and virus waves can occur in autumn.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the vaccination campaign in pharmacies that started one day before the nationwide deadline was only partially viewed positively.

The family doctor associations in North Rhine-Westphalia had criticized the vaccinations by pharmacists because there is currently free capacity in medical practices and vaccination centers.

However, the North Rhine-Westphalia Association of Pharmacists reported a surprisingly brisk demand.