One year of the corona vaccination: I couldn’t turn it around

The first corona vaccine was administered in Germany around a year ago. In the summer, more than half of the people were immunized. But since then the curve has stagnated. A look back at twelve months of the vaccination campaign.

In the middle of her room is her dining table, decorated with a white Christmas blanket, small decorative Christmas trees and some open letters, greeting cards and postcards. Addressed to them. To Gertrud Vogel, Cologne’s first person to be vaccinated.

A year ago it was clear to the elderly that there was no avoiding vaccination. That is one of the reasons why the now 93-year-old was willingly allowed to be observed by journalists and cameras during the vaccination while she was being vaccinated. She said then in the daily News: “This is the only way we can get things under control again. This is the only way young people can live the way they want to live again.” With this sentence she encourages a group of young students who write to her. “Look here . “She picks up a pink letter and says:” This post is from four students who wrote me how exemplary and beautiful they think it is. “

“Now comes the fifth wave”

She did not expect that the situation would not have gotten much better a year later. “I thought it was going to end. It looked good for a while,” says the senior citizen. “But now it goes on. Now the fifth wave is coming soon. And it will get even worse. All I see, and I hear a lot of scientists on TV, is that it is better if almost everyone is vaccinated.”

A good quarter have not yet been vaccinated. You are skeptical. Vaccination is probably the topic of contention this Corona year. Even now, although a new challenge awaits society with the Omikron variant.

As for Gertrud Vogel, it quickly became clear to the majority of Germans that they would be vaccinated. At the end of August, a good 60 percent of all Germans were fully vaccinated and had received a first and second vaccination. But since then the curve has stagnated. And so it is only a little more than 70 percent this Christmas year who, according to figures from the federal government, have full vaccination protection.

Dispute about vaccination safety

In the spring, discussions about vaccination safety, especially with regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine, cast doubts. Who is the vaccine safe for and who is it not? Which age group can be protected with this? The Federal Minister of Health at the time, Jens Spahn, did not manage to calm the discussion. Constantly new guidelines on who can be vaccinated with what and when are unsettling the population. And lead to the fact that the Germans to this day differentiate very clearly between the vaccines. The preference is clear: better BioNTech than anything else. In the meantime, AstraZeneca has practically disappeared from the German vaccination campaign.

Reluctant announcements by the Standing Vaccination Commissions about vaccinations for children and adolescents are also fueling discussions about vaccinations in Germany. You want to be on the safe side, and make decisions more slowly than other states like Israel or the USA. And the vaccination campaign is losing momentum.

Today, many vaccination experts, virologists and doctors complain that communication could have been clearer and more consistent. One of them is the head vaccinator in Cologne, Jürgen Zastrow, who also says: “Today we have a different knowledge than at the beginning of the pandemic and vaccination campaign. And that’s a good thing. You have to admit that to a system that it does at the beginning also be allowed to make mistakes. It only gets bad if you don’t learn from mistakes. “

30 million booster vaccinations by the end of the year

Germany is now in the fourth wave. The goal by the end of the year is to get 30 million booster vaccinations to the people. It should be easier to get a vaccination: Injections are made in pharmacies, schools, mosques and churches. That should make it easier and less complicated – especially for the hesitant. The Federal Government only emphasized at one of the last Prime Minister’s Conferences that this was an important way to not only find a higher vaccination rate, but also to find a way out of the pandemic.

Vaccination centers like those found in many regions and cities in Germany at the beginning of the year no longer exist, but central vaccination centers have been re-established in some places. Jürgen Zastrow headed the center in Cologne. His look back: “The vaccination was a success story as far as the supply was concerned. If there was a demand, I would have liked more. Then we would be a lot further.”

Compulsory vaccination in spring?

This is another reason why Germany is debating a vaccination light. Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to put it to the vote in the Bundestag. And quickly: First we were talking about March and now about February. Other countries have already shown the way. In Austria, for example, vaccination is mandatory from February 2022. A step that triggers protests, a loud minority, on the other hand, takes to the streets not only in Austria, but also here.

On Wednesday there were thousands who protested in the Bavarian capital, Munich. But experts see no other way, like vaccination doctor Jürgen Zastrow: “It’s not about vaccination, it is now about fundamentalist resistance to any form of government. Whether they are doctors, scientists or politicians. We will not be able to discuss that away. We have to fix that, “he says. “That’s why we need vaccinations now and not just in March.”

Fourth vaccination possible

In the coming year, however, it will not only be a question of compulsory vaccination, but also a possible fourth vaccination. Health Minister Lauterbach assumes that the Omikron variant will require a further boost with an adapted vaccine.

Gertrud Vogel, the senior citizen from Cologne, would also accept a fourth vaccination. It has already been boosted since October. Because the now 93-year-old still has a clear goal in life: “I want the world to be in order before I go, before I can die here in peace.”