Status: 03.09.2022 11:25 a.m
The first vaccines adapted to Omikron are approved. How the vaccines get to the people is organized by the federal states and municipalities themselves. The strategies differ.
Around 14 million doses of the BA.1 preparation are to be delivered by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna in the next two weeks. Although BA.1 no longer plays a role in Germany, experts assume that the new vaccines also offer an advantage against the currently dominant BA.5 subtype.
When administering the new vaccines adapted to Omikron, the federal states do not expect a large rush. This emerges from a survey by the dpa news agency. Nevertheless, the federal states and municipalities have developed strategies on how the distribution should work. An overview:
Bavaria
There are currently 80 vaccination centers in Bavaria – some with limited opening hours. And this despite a low demand for vaccination. The Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) announced that vaccinations could start quickly in Bavaria as soon as the adapted vaccine had arrived.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is also sticking to vaccination centers, which should initially remain open until April 2023. The Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian Ministry of Health announced that the vaccination centers and mobile teams are an important offer, especially for people who do not have a family doctor or who do not have access to a doctor’s office due to restricted mobility.
Saxony
In Saxony, the total of 13 vaccination points will remain – but these are to be increased. On request, the Ministry of Social Affairs in Dresden announced that the existing vaccination centers should be staffed during the cold season.
Bremen
In Bremen there are still four central vaccination centers, a children’s vaccination center, mobile teams and vaccination vehicles, as the health department announced. A spokeswoman said that “even if demand increases in the short term, capacities can be increased”.
Schleswig Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein has calculated how many vaccinations the capacities can be expanded to. The result, according to the Ministry of Health in Kiel: “If necessary, existing capacities (vaccination lines) and the opening times in the existing vaccination centers can be increased.” According to this, it would then be possible to carry out more than 1.8 million vaccinations within six weeks.
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Baden-Württemberg’s Health Minister Manne Lucha (Greens) assumes that the existing capacities in his state are sufficient. The country is currently not expecting a mass vaccination like in early 2021. In this case, the vaccination coordinators in every city and district could ramp up the infrastructure, it said.
Thuringia
In Thuringia, with the exception of two cities – Erfurt and Gera – capacities will not be increased for the time being. The opening hours there have not been reduced, according to the vaccination manager of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV), Jörg Metz. The willingness to vaccinate is currently low. “If the demand increases again, we will react,” said Mertz. The federal state has already halved the vaccination points. It is unclear how the approval of vaccines that are adapted to the Omicron variants will affect demand.
Hamburg
In Hamburg, the corona vaccines are primarily vaccinated via the medical practices. There are only two vaccination centers in Hamburg, which could be staffed if there is greater demand, the health authority said. “We already prepared for scaling up the capacities when setting up the two vaccination centers and the mobile offer,” it said there with a view to autumn.
Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt
The same also applies to Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt: vaccinations should continue to be carried out via medical practices here as well.
North Rhine-Westphalia
Even the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia relies primarily on vaccinations in medical practices. This enables flexible control of the local vaccination process and is based on demand, said the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Social Affairs on request. According to the information, vaccination could be significantly ramped up again in the fall if necessary. The federal state has the resources to “carry out at least 250,000 vaccinations a week within 14 days – in addition to what is offered in medical practices and company doctors.”
Hesse
According to its own statements, Hesse has also not had any state-owned vaccination centers since the end of September 2021.
Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony
A number of mobile vaccination teams are on the move in Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony. There are currently around 150 in Lower Saxony alone. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the German Red Cross can vaccinate around 35,000 people per month with its mobile teams – especially in old people’s homes, as the Ministry of Health in Mainz announced. In addition, there would be 26 stationary vaccination offers and six vaccination buses with a total of around 200,000 vaccinations per month.
STIKO recommendation is still missing
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave the green light on Thursday for the two vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna, which are adapted to the BA.1 subtype of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The EU Commission also approved the vaccine on Friday.
There is not yet a vaccination recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) in Germany. It is not absolutely necessary for administration.