There are people who have been made ill by the corona vaccination.
Their cases are rare and their ailments poorly understood.
In Bavaria, too, Post-Vac sufferers often find it difficult to get the right help.
Munich – Peter K. says he had tears of joy in his eyes when he got the second vaccination a year and a half ago.
"I thought: Now all the Corona crap will soon be over.
Holidays, bars – I can finally go out again.” A week later, the pain came.
"In my thigh, just like a sore muscle at first." Soon the 45-year-old could no longer walk more than a kilometer.
If he exerted himself, he was completely exhausted the next day.
And when he sat quietly, his legs would tingle, burn, or go numb.
To date, the complaints have largely remained.
Post Vac syndrome relatively unknown - "Long Covid after vaccination"
What Long Covid is, most people know by now.
Post-vac syndrome, on the other hand, is relatively unknown.
Some doctors sum up the clinical picture with "Long Covid after vaccination".
However, there is no official scientific definition.
Anything from fatigue to neurological damage to heart problems can occur.
How often the syndrome actually occurs after a corona vaccination is still difficult to estimate.
Some experts put the probability at around 0.02 percent.
Similar to Long Covid, the research is in its infancy, so findings can change quickly.
General practitioners and specialists often find it difficult to keep up.
But while there are increasingly special offers for long-Covid patients, many post-vac sufferers feel poorly cared for.
The University Hospital Marburg has therefore expanded its post-Covid outpatient clinic with a post-vac outpatient clinic.
There are currently 7,000 people on the waiting list.
Peter K. is one of them.
By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria. Sign up here.
Post Vac: The responsible ministry does not comment
There is no such post-vac ambulance in Bavaria.
However, the Ministry of Health writes on its website that in severe cases, experts believe that the existing long-Covid outpatient clinics are “good contacts for diagnostics and therapy for patients with suspected post-vac syndrome”.
But the reality is apparently different.
Peter K. has had several hospital stays.
He was in neurology, in internal medicine and, according to his own statement, spent 2000 euros on blood tests.
He also repeatedly sought help from the said long-Covid ambulances for over a year - and was sent away each time.
In Mühldorf he failed because of the receptionist, he was told in a letter from Munich and in Nuremberg he was told that only patients with psychosomatic symptoms would be admitted.
"There are increasing reports that those affected are not admitted to the postal or long-Covid ambulances as promised by the Ministry of Health, but are rejected from the outset," says Ruth Waldmann (SPD), a member of the state parliament, in our newspaper.
It doesn't help much that the state government switched on a Post-Vac telephone hotline on Monday, which is supposed to give general information and advice on supply and was already overloaded in the first few days.
If you only find out "where you are not being treated", the offer is "not very useful".
The people affected would be "let down if you just close your eyes," says Waldmann.
Long Covid ambulances soon for post-vac sufferers too?
The Ministry of Health has now apparently recognized that there is a problem here.
In response to a question from Waldmann, the House of Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) writes that they are “specifically committed to ensuring that the responsible providers, in particular the post/long-Covid outpatient clinics at the university clinics, increasingly also for post Open Vac Affected".
But which patients they accept would be decided by the clinics and their sponsors themselves.
In the case of the university clinics, this question falls within the remit of Science Minister Markus Blume (CSU).
However, an inquiry from our newspaper as to whether there were plans to open the long-Covid outpatient clinics at the Bavarian university clinics to post-vac sufferers as well left his house unanswered.
Sometimes he has the feeling that his fate just doesn't fit the picture, says Peter K. Even some general practitioners still don't want to believe stories like his.
He only received real help in a self-help group – from other people affected.
You can always read all the news from all over Bavaria with us.
News and stories from Bavaria can now also be found on our brand new Facebook page Merkur Bayern.