When the First Mayor becomes a vaccinator himself
The man himself is: Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) gives a man a booster vaccination in the Kaisersaal of the town hall
Source: dpa
Usually Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) greets the citizens at a New Year’s reception. This time, however, the medical student was waiting in the town hall with the syringe in his hand. The incidence of the Hanseatic city is approaching the 400 mark.
D.hat was probably the most unusual New Year’s reception that was held in the venerable Hamburg City Hall: the most beautiful rooms such as the Kaisersaal were converted into a vaccination center. And the offer was well received, long queues formed up to the town hall market.
On this day only booster vaccinations were given without prior notification. But it could be that the mayor started the injection himself, because Hamburg’s mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) himself was active in one of the cabins. He administered the vaccines in a white coat, but the skills were undoubtedly there – before his time in politics, Tschentscher worked as a laboratory doctor at the Eppendorf University Hospital (UKE). On New Year’s Day, he appealed to all Hamburgers to get the booster vaccination or the first vaccination, as this was the only way to get out of the pandemic. Hamburg will therefore continue to roll out the vaccination offers in January, but then outside the town hall in the districts.
Hundreds of people wait patiently in a long queue for their booster vaccination on the Rathausmarkt
Source: dpa
The figures from Saturday also showed how necessary this is. The seven-day incidence of new corona infections in Hamburg continues to rise. The health authority gave the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants within a week on Saturday at 389.9. On Friday the value was 383.4, a week ago it was 348.3. Hamburg is thus still well above the national average: across Germany, the seven-day incidence on New Year’s Day was 220.3, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The reason for this is the high mobility of the Hanseatic city dwellers, but also their proximity to Denmark – where the Omikron virus variant spread widely early on.
The Hamburg health authority reported 873 confirmed new infections on Saturday. That is 692 less than on Friday (1565), but 163 more than a week ago (710). The number of people who have died in connection with the virus in Hamburg since the beginning of the pandemic rose by 6 to 1995. According to the health authorities, 235 Covid-19 patients were in the hospitals of the Hanseatic city as of Thursday, 64 of them in intensive care units. According to the register of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, 73 Covid-19 patients were treated in Hamburg’s intensive care units on Saturday (as of 12.15 p.m.), four more than the day before. 41 of these patients are ventilated invasively.
According to the RKI, 79.3 percent of Hamburgers have been vaccinated at least once; Accordingly, 77 percent have full basic protection with the second injection, which is usually necessary. So far, 33.1 percent of people in Hamburg have received a booster vaccination. When it comes to the first and second vaccinations, Hamburg is still in third place in a country comparison, but in the penultimate place for the “booster” vaccinations for refreshment.