The Marienplatz in Munich is well filled, many visitors are looking forward to it, mobile phones for filming go up, even applause sounds. Then the glockenspiel with the dancing figures in the town hall tower is already over. It’s just after 11 a.m. on Tuesday, the Bavarian Ministry of Health’s event on the corona vaccination campaign begins – and the ranks of passers-by thin out quickly. A bad omen?
Well, the observation is somewhat unfair, as there are also many tourists among the tower watchers who have probably never heard the name Klaus Holetschek. But basically, what is happening here reflects the situation quite well: The pandemic and concerns about the virus seem to be far away this summer. In any case, they’re almost certainly not the number one concern for most people anymore. The communication campaign just mentioned – title: “Of course” – is intended to bring the topic back onto the agenda.
Hence the start of the campaign with a press conference “in the heart of the state capital”, as Health Minister Holetschek calls it. “Even if we don’t really think about it anymore with the nice weather,” he says – in autumn there could be “one or the other challenge” if activities shifted indoors.
The CSU politician enters the stage with the Munich health officer Beatrix Zurek and the virologist Ulrike Protzer. In addition to the press representatives, interested people always stop and listen. “I know her from TV,” whispered North German vacationers when they saw the scientist Protzer. Others, including some vaccine skeptics, finally point the finger and ask questions when the journalists are invited. Holetschek agrees and officially opens the press event for a spontaneous round with citizens.
Health Minister Klaus Holetschek sees “room for improvement” in Bavaria’s vaccination statistics.
(Photo: Florian Peljak)
“The higher the vaccination protection in the population, the better we start in the autumn and winter – that protects our health system, but above all the people themselves,” says the minister. This does not necessarily mean the fourth vaccination, which Stiko has recently recommended for people over 60 or with previous illnesses – but also the third, booster number one. With the current status, Holetschek sees “room for improvement”, there has been almost no movement in the vaccination statistics for months: In Bavaria, around 75 percent of the people are currently vaccinated twice. 58.8 percent received a booster (the second booster is now almost six percent). Incidentally, in other federal states the rate of those who have been vaccinated three times is sometimes significantly higher: in Schleswig-Holstein it is 70 percent, in Saarland, Lower Saxony or Bremen it is more than 65 percent.
On the checklist with the preparations for the Corona autumn “vaccination must not be missing,” announces Holetschek. Checklists are actually a central element of the campaign, which should be visible on posters in Bavaria’s towns and communities or on social media. Often they are rows that make you look or frown, with ticks next to them. For example: “Tomorrow: yoga, hedge trimming, hairdressing, booster shots”. Or “This week: booster vaccinations, sewing a dirndl, closing a savings account, the start of the Oktoberfest”.
The campaign costs four million euros
This is enlightenment and information less with the index finger, this impression is created. Rather, people should be encouraged to think about their vaccination status or to talk to their doctor about it. Terms such as “personal responsibility” are used conspicuously often on this day. On the other hand, advertising in inpatient care facilities has been more aggressive for a week now, dedicated to the second refresher. To this end, each vaccination center should appoint an officer who will look after the homes when boosters are given to the residents.
The ministry had already presented the plans for the campaign to the health committee of the Bavarian state parliament in July. At that time, total costs of four million euros were mentioned. The communication offensive should later also address the hygiene rules and remind people to wash their hands, distance and masks. Speaking of masks, “something else will happen tomorrow,” speculates Holetschek. The federal cabinet will discuss the draft of the traffic light on possible corona measures on Wednesday. This stipulates that the federal states can reintroduce a mask requirement indoors from October. An exception to this should be, among other things, who was freshly vaccinated in the three months before. For Holetschek, this idea “cannot be implemented in practice”, for example in restaurants or sports facilities. In general, a sense of proportion applies to future measures, the minister promises: “We will act when necessary and only as much as necessary.”
When asked by a passer-by, virologist Protzer also made it clear that one should not wait for new vaccines with refreshments, even if a new virus variant appears. Example Omicron: The adapted vaccine now approved in England refers to a sub-variant that circulated here in January and has since stopped. The effect of the original vaccines currently available in Germany “in terms of disease progression” (in the case of infection “unfortunately” less than initially hoped) is just as good.
The current corona wave is meanwhile apparently on the retreat. The seven-day incidence in Bavaria is currently 271.8, just a few weeks ago it was three times as much. However, experts assume that there is a high number of unrecorded cases – because by far not all infected people have a PCR test and only these count in the statistics. But the number of cases is also falling in clinics, specifically in the intensive care units. On Tuesday, 156 intensive care beds in Bavaria were occupied by corona-infected patients. At the end of July there were now more than 280, a red alert level is planned for the Bavarian warning light at 600. Nevertheless, the situation in many hospitals remains tense, with intensive care units sometimes operating to a limited extent. The main reasons are corona infections and illness-related absences among staff.