Two years of vaccination center in the district of Starnberg: A look back with ups and downs

Created: 12/31/2022, 12:00 p.m

By: Tobias Gmach

On December 23, 2020, BRK district manager Jan Lang, medical director Dr.

Richard Aulehner, head of administration Lukas Messerschmidt and district administrator Stefan Frey (front from left) present the first corona vaccination center on the clinic premises in Gauting to the press.

Now the era of vaccination centers in the district is ending.

© Andrea Jaksch

The vaccination center in the Starnberg district is closing after two years.

District Administrator Stefan Frey remembers beautiful and annoying moments, challenges and many emotions.

District – Even if one was often talked about, there were several in most phases of the pandemic: The corona vaccination center in the district of Starnberg is history at the end of the year.

The era of stationary facilities, the mobile teams of the BRK and the special campaigns are not only associated with around 88,000 first and second vaccinations, 25,000 third and 2600 fourth vaccinations, but also organizational challenges and lots of emotions.

District Administrator Stefan Frey takes stock in an interview with Starnberger Merkur.

Mr. Frey, what is your conclusion after two years of vaccination center?

Overall, we took good care of the population and created an offer that was well used.

In contrast to other districts, we drove an area strategy.

With several locations, we tried to serve all communities equally.

In the meantime it was important that we explained a lot, via e-mail, the Internet and a telephone hotline.

The first vaccinations were awaited with anticipation for a long time.

What memories do you have of the start at the end of 2020?

The first vaccine was like gold.

He was delivered to the Maria Eich retirement home in Krailling.

The police guarded it because it was so precious.

You had to treat him like a raw egg, according to initial information you were not allowed to shake him or expose him to shocks.

Everyone was excited, a huge casserole in the nursing home.

Organizationally, it was pretty crunchy at first.

The first vaccination center in Gauting was too small, elderly people had to wait a long time and could not sit down.

Some were sent home despite being registered.

Could you have solved this better?

You can always say that in hindsight.

However, we had the government requirement that the center be designed for 300 vaccinations per day.

When we realized that that would never, ever be enough, we expanded to branch offices in Herrsching, Feldafing, Starnberg and Wörthsee.

In addition, we had to work with the BayImco state registration system, which initially had quirks and snags.

There were problems with the registration and incorrect assignments.

Some gave false information and pushed ahead.

Sometimes people got excited, and rightly so.

But anger can never be avoided with such mass actions.

This was particularly the case when the federal government defined priority groups such as people in nursing homes, over 80-year-olds or rescue organizations.

It was a real fight to be fair to everyone.

That was a huge pressure: a lot of people wanted to be vaccinated at once and immediately.

Many suddenly felt that they belonged to a priority group.

I was inundated with emails, requests, wishes and requests.

But the vaccine was so scarce.

And in our district there are eleven clinics and more than 30 old people's homes and nursing services that also had to be taken care of.

It was a fight for every single vaccine dose.

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At the time, you were angry about the distribution of the vaccine.

Yes, because it was regulated by the number of inhabitants.

But other counties have significantly fewer medical facilities.

I annoyed the Bavarian Minister of Health so much that we got 10,000 extra doses of Astrazeneca.

That was a great relief then.

The first vaccine was like gold.

District Administrator Stefan Frey

So there were also nice moments in the era of the vaccination center.

Yes, for example the special vaccination day in the district office on April 10, 2021. People were smuggled through the whole building, cared for at several vaccination stations, and tents were set up in the meeting room, for example.

That was really a beautiful day.

You could see the people's fears and worries, but then also the relief.

Statistically, the medical practices have now vaccinated against Corona more often than the vaccination center.

But they were not involved for a long time.

Was the focus on the vaccination center too big?

I remember well that from April 2021 we gave parts of our vaccine to the medical profession to get through it faster.

The donation was initially prohibited, but we did it anyway because we knew that we have a strong medical community in the district.

The situation only really relaxed when there was enough vaccine.

But then there was also the time when there was a lot of vaccine and few people willing to be vaccinated.

From August 2021, the aim was to reach the unsure and skeptics and significantly increase the vaccination rate for herd immunity.

We vaccinated at the lake, on the ship, in the cinema and in the Sparkasse foyer.

You really had to take the stuff to the people.

It became more and more difficult, the saturation point was reached by the beginning of 2022 at the latest.

We then also had a lot to do with opponents of vaccination, and the Monday demonstrations began.

As a public administration, what have you learned from these changing vaccination times?

The employees have proven to be very flexible.

From one day to the next, colleagues had to leave their department to answer an incredible number of questions on the Corona hotline.

For many, this was an opportunity to quickly familiarize yourself with something completely new.

That gives a good feeling that still resonates today.

In times of crisis, administrations learn what they don't always do: take risks, make decisions despite concerns.

Was it a good idea to move the last vaccination center to Mörlbach on the outskirts of the district?

That didn't matter at all.

You could see that in the low numbers.

In the end, the vaccination center was just waste, because all doctors offer it.

Vaccination against Corona has become normal.

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By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Starnberg newsletter.

You can find more current news from the district of Starnberg at Merkur.de/Starnberg.