Ulrich Bertelshofer recently had to buy a glass of eggnog. As a consolation for a lady in the Hospitalstift Bayreuth, it was about a positive corona test and the necessary quarantine, although the resident showed no symptoms; what you take care of as a facility manager on a small scale. Recently, however, he has also had an eye on the larger picture: as a vaccination officer for the care facilities in the city and district of Bayreuth. The benefits of the Covid vaccination “cannot be dismissed out of hand,” he says. There are now mild courses of the disease, even in 85-year-olds, unlike earlier at the time of the disaster; and if there is an outbreak, the majority of residents are no longer affected.
Vaccination officers like him should be one thing above all, reports Bertelshofer: a reliable contact for the facilities in the region – “at eye level” for all questions relating to the high-risk group of seniors and boosters. In addition, the vaccination officers organize the vaccination appointments if necessary.
The Bavarian campaign for boosters has started, and posters with checklists have been hanging in many places for a few days. “Tomorrow: yoga, hedge trimming, hairdressing, booster vaccinations” is one of the slogans intended to motivate people to check their vaccination status. Individual responsibility is appealed to, it is still about the first refresher, because only 58.8 percent of Bavarians have had it administered. On the other hand, the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) has long recommended a second booster for the approximately 130,000 residents in Bavarian care facilities. The second booster is very important, especially for vulnerable groups, because the protective effect against severe courses decreases with increasing distance to the first booster, says Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). Many are still “not optimally protected against the virus. We have to change that in order to be well prepared for autumn and winter.”
The commissioners could relieve family doctors
In mid-July, the ministry asked all vaccination centers to appoint special officers. When asked by the SZ, nine out of ten had done so, in the remaining districts “implementation is expected in the near future”. There was much praise for the idea, and other federal states are debating whether to imitate it. The national group of the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services sees further positive effects. The interlinking of nursing homes and vaccination centers represents a relief for general practitioners, it said. These, in turn, can focus on providing quick fourth-vaccination shots for those in need of care who are cared for at home.
There is no elaborate job description for the officers. Bertelshofer is glad that the specifications from Munich are not lashed down to dozens of pages. After all, the pandemic taught us what is important: flexibility. At the same time, it’s a good signal “that it doesn’t just mean: They’ll sort it out somehow.” Bertelshofer had already been involved in the planning of the mobile vaccination campaign in the management group for civil protection in the city of Bayreuth. Once a week he now makes an online switch with care facilities in the region: What questions arise, is there a need for discussion, how can reservations be cleared up? And: Should a mobile team be sent? “That’s not the case every day,” says Bertelshofer, adding that it’s important to keep it simple – he can always be reached on his cell phone.
There are obstacles for the second booster. Anyone who asks around in Bavaria’s care scene will find out, among other things, a simple reason: that the period of time between the third and fourth vaccination is still too short. There is also occasional talk of “corona weariness”, despite the deaths in recent years; the residents see how life outside is normalizing. This is exactly where the campaign should start, in addition to the officers, there is also information material for the homes that is tailored to the target group. It is heard again and again: Seniors want to wait for the new vaccines adapted to Omikron. But the ministry and many virologists advise against waiting, the effect of the currently available vaccines is absolutely suitable in terms of the course of the disease.
The vaccination rates are very different
Another problem, however, is that nobody knows how many home residents actually received the fourth vaccination – so what is the starting point. The monitoring for this was transferred from the Free State to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in the spring after a change in the law. The federal authority has just published a report – with data from May, they are likely to be outdated. According to this, residents of care facilities in Bavaria were vaccinated as follows: almost five percent not at all, the rest twice, 84 percent with the first booster, 26 percent with the second.
In Bayreuth, the rate is at a similar level, and Bertelshofer does not have any other numbers. The data revealed an enormous spread. One-digit percentages for the second refresher, for example in the districts of Günzburg, Berchtesgadener Land or Coburg. The situation is very different, for example, in the cities of Würzburg (53 percent) or Rosenheim (40), in the districts of Kitzingen (58) or Altötting (44). However, typical patterns of interpretation such as city-country or north-south are by no means stringent. The ministry says: “We would also like more up-to-date figures. However, a parallel survey is not expedient.”
After a meeting of the health committee in the state parliament, this caused displeasure in July. Ruth Waldmann (SPD) warned against “flying blind”. She also considered it fatal that the facility-related vaccination requirement for medical staff had practically been dropped. According to RKI statistics from May, only seven percent of the employees in nursing homes are not vaccinated against Corona; However, almost no one has had a second refresher, Stiko recommends this especially for direct patient contact. Bertelshofer is also hoping for progress in vaccinating employees, visiting relatives and carers. “That’s otherwise the fox in the chicken coop.”