The hotline for people with health problems after a corona vaccination, which was launched at the beginning of April, remains in high demand. By Thursday, the employees of the help line of the State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) had received around 1,650 calls, said Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). “If so many people – also from other federal states – contact the hotline in such a short time, the suffering of those affected is great.”
Due to the great demand at the start on April 3, the staff for the hotline was increased by two employees. “Currently there are six to seven employees in each shift, which is sufficient given the current volume,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health. If the demand increases again, the hotline “can be increased in terms of staff at any time”.
Overall, persistent health problems after a Covid 19 vaccination are very rare, Holetschek emphasized at the start of the hotline. By the end of March, there were around 29 million corona vaccinations administered in Bavaria, with 84 recognized vaccine injuries. According to the current state of knowledge, the so-called post-vac syndrome only seems to affect very few people, said Holetschek. The benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.
The aim of the hotline is to give people help if they have questions about how to deal with possible vaccination consequences. “Unfortunately, individual medical advice is not possible over the phone, even if many callers would like that,” said Holetschek. “Rather, it has a guiding function: Where are there serious offers, who can you contact? There’s also a lot of false information out there on the internet.”
Many callers reported health problems, some of which were severe, often with unclear diagnoses and, as a result, mental stress. “The hotline should therefore also be a signal that we take people seriously and don’t leave them alone,” said Holetschek. He also wants to talk to representatives of associations and outpatient clinics about how the care of patients with post-vac symptoms can be improved.