Doctors angry about vaccinating pharmacists: "This can only be an exception"
Created: 07/12/2022, 08:00
By: Jennifer Battaglia
Doctors are not enthusiastic about vaccinations by pharmacists.
© IMAGO/Michael Gstettenbauer
Pharmacies are not only allowed to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but also against flu.
Doctors are critical of vaccinations by pharmacists.
District – Every Wednesday and Saturday you can get vaccinated in the St. Anna pharmacy in Burggen.
Pharmacist Thomas Mark offers his customers both corona and flu vaccinations.
Anyone who would like to be vaccinated can arrange a day and time by telephone or book an appointment online.
Vaccinations in pharmacies: the response has been good so far
According to Mark, the response has been good so far.
"The people who came to get the vaccine thought the offer was great," he says.
The pharmacist vaccinates himself. At the beginning of the year he had taken part in the necessary training – because by law only trained pharmacists are allowed to administer the injection.
All in all, the training and renewal of the first responder certificate took two and a half days, says Mark.
The pharmacist does not see any potential for conflict with general practitioners when it comes to vaccinations.
In the house where the St. Anna pharmacy is located, there is also a doctor's office with three doctors.
"I don't vaccinate any patients from my practice," says the pharmacist.
Above all, people from further away - from Füssen, Wessobrunn or Landsberg - would have let him miss the injection.
According to Mark, there are many reasons for the sometimes long journey.
Some general practitioners would not vaccinate against Covid-19.
"Everyone vaccinates against flu," says the pharmacist.
"Some doctors have reservations about the corona vaccines."
In order to be able to make everyone a suitable offer, the St. Anna pharmacy has various vaccines in stock.
Both the conventional Biontech vaccine and the adapted vaccines against the omicron variant.
Mark also offers Novavax.
"For everyone who only wants to be vaccinated with a 'dead vaccine'."
If someone has ever reacted to a vaccination or belongs to a risk group, Mark will not give them an injection.
The vaccination candidate must fill out a medical history form before the vaccination.
Mark checks it.
"It's no different here than in the vaccination center," says the pharmacist.
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Pharmacy spokesman: "We don't want the impression that we vaccinate everything into the ground"
The low-threshold vaccination offer is accepted, but vaccinations by pharmacists are not welcomed by medical professionals.
The German General Practitioners Association, the Bavarian State Medical Association and the Bavarian Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians have spoken out against vaccinations in pharmacies.
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The pharmacy spokesman in the district, Dr.
Philip Kircher.
In the St.Ulrich pharmacy in Peißenberg, Kircher does offer vaccinations, but only advertises them passively.
"We don't want the doctors to get the impression that we're vaccinating everything," he says.
In the past few months he has carried out a maximum of 20 to 30 corona vaccinations.
Kircher follows the instructions of the legislator.
"It was not our idea that pharmacies should also vaccinate." As a delegate and speaker of the Bavarian State Pharmacy Chamber, he could not refuse vaccinations in pharmacies.
"I'm in a bit of a quandary there," says Kircher.
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Supply doctor: "This shot backfires"
Peter Lidzba, the district doctor, clearly criticizes the new legal regulation that pharmacists are allowed to vaccinate against Covid 19 and flu: "This can only be an exceptional regulation, not a permanent condition," emphasizes the internist and family doctor from Penzberg.
"It belongs in the doctor's office to decide who is vaccinated and when." General practitioners are well informed about previous illnesses and possible intolerances of their patients.
"The overall medical knowledge about the patient is priceless." The doctor in charge fears an increase in undesirable side effects of vaccination with corona vaccines if they continue to be vaccinated in pharmacies.
"This shot will backfire," he predicts.
Vaccination centers across Bavaria will close at the end of the year.
Lidzba doesn't think GPs will then need vaccination support.
"Doctor's offices have always done this.
We have the infrastructure for it, we have the staff," he says.
In addition, vaccination centers have hardly made any noticeable contribution to corona vaccinations in the past few months, the majority of which are already being taken care of by general practitioners.
Another point that annoys doctors is the different remuneration per syringe: According to the Bavarian Ministry of Health, pharmacies receive 7.60 euros for the implementation and documentation of a flu vaccination from the statutory health insurance companies.
"In addition, there are 2.40 euros for ancillary services, including the procurement of consumables and to compensate for discards, and one euro for the procurement of the vaccine," said a ministry spokeswoman on request.
Makes eleven euros in total.
"We doctors definitely get less for each flu shot," says Lidzba.
But it's not about the money for him.
Lidzba is concerned that other vaccinations will follow in the pharmacy in the future, for example vaccinations against pneumococci, tetanus, TBE and travel vaccinations.
“Once you start, how do you go on?” he asks.
Upon request, the Bavarian Ministry of Health announced that no further vaccinations by pharmacists were planned based on the current state of knowledge.
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