Country: A good 800,000 possible vaccinations per week in autumn

Created: 06/23/2022, 09:11

A man stands at a Covid 19 vaccination center behind the sign "Vaccinate" on the floor.

© Arne Dedert/dpa/POOL/dpa/symbol image

A new corona wave threatens in autumn.

It may then also be necessary to vaccinate and boost en masse again.

Will the expensive vaccination centers in the South West reopen then?

Stuttgart – If the corona situation escalated again in autumn, doctors and pharmacists in Baden-Württemberg could vaccinate around 810,000 people per week.

This emerges from figures from the state and the municipalities that are available to the German Press Agency and the “Badisches Tagblatt”.

According to this, the resident doctors have signaled that they will do around 550,000 vaccinations per week in regular operation.

In the pharmacies 195,000 would be possible.

Then there are the private doctors, who could immunize 53,000 people within seven days, and the dentists with 12,000 vaccinations.

The agreement between the state and local authorities on the vaccination concept for the fall also states: "Around 100,000 vaccinations by company doctors and large companies also appear possible."

The big question now is whether that will be enough if there is another rush to practices and pharmacies because of a new wave or at least a conceivable new virus variant.

The country has mostly closed the vaccination centers, but reserves the right to reopen them if necessary.

The agreement between the state and local authorities states that the federal government is currently assuming that around 50 million vaccinations will be necessary nationwide in autumn 2022.

The proportion of Baden-Württemberg would thus be around 6.5 million vaccinations.

With a vaccination capacity of around 810,000 vaccinations per week, doctors and pharmacists in the southwest could be able to cover this need for vaccinations in around eight weeks.

Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) said on Tuesday that there were no plans to reopen the vaccination centers in autumn.

But that was immediately restricted again.

Health Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) wants to be prepared if there is a run on vaccinations.

In the dpa interview he said: "Should a situation arise in which extremely high amounts suddenly have to be vaccinated in a short period of time because people want to be boosted, a new, more dangerous virus variant appears or the new vaccine adapted to Omikron is available, I want to be ready.” This also includes the reopening of vaccination centers.

The municipalities are actually against it because of the high costs.

dpa