The entrance to the vaccination drive-in on Ludwig-Bölkow-Allee in Taufkirchen is easy to miss. The signs are still missing, only the corona test station is identified and you can quickly drive past the fenced-off path to the entrance. But it is also the first day on which the Johanniter-Unfallhilfe begins on the grounds of the Jochen-Schweizer-Arena with their new vaccination offer.
However, once the first pit stop is reached on this Monday morning, the process is very straightforward: At check-in, the data is recorded, the information sheet is filled out and the vaccine is selected. You can choose from the vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Biontech or cross-vaccination with Astra Zeneca and Biontech. Then it goes on to the vaccination station, where the vaccine is administered in two lanes.
However, vaccination is not possible while driving by. Vaccinated persons have to wait 15 minutes in a parking lot – for observation if the vaccination is not tolerated. On the square next to the Jochen Schweizer Arena, the sun glows at noon, there is no shade. “In the heat, our team checks very regularly whether everything is okay with the vaccinated”, says Franz Josef Strohmeier, head of the Johanniter service. “To avoid dizziness, you should drink enough before the vaccination.” When the quarter of an hour is over, you continue to the exit. If you want, you can make your second appointment here – if one is needed.
There is less going on at lunchtime than in the morning and at the end of the day. “The peak times are in the morning from eight to ten o’clock and after four o’clock,” explains Strohmeier. Nevertheless, cars are constantly reaching the vaccination drive-in. “It’s very easy here,” reports Peter Ott, who has just received the first vaccination on his motorcycle. Before that, he simply hadn’t bothered to register for a vaccination. He doesn’t need any here. “Waiting and waiting in a waiting room wouldn’t be for me. This is ideal,” says Ott. However, the gravel place is difficult to drive for motorcyclists.
Christine Hilmeier also appreciates the timeless, uncomplicated vaccination option: “My son was here in the morning and only reported positive things. Then I thought, now I will be vaccinated too.” Hilmeier wanted to register with her family doctor for a vaccination appointment three months ago, but there were already 300 people on the waiting list. She also wanted to be vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the vaccine is freely selectable at the Johannitern in Taufkirchen. “You can only recommend it,” she says.
The fact that you can be vaccinated spontaneously and easily is the reason why almost all of the respondents come to the drive-in. “My grandmother read about the vaccination option in the newspaper and said that I could go there,” says Daniel Schulte. “My family doctor does not vaccinate and I should have registered with other doctors and introduced them. The organizational effort is less here.”
“I drove by first,” says Martin Hörger. “If you come from Brunnthaler Straße, the entrance is right behind the curve.” After that, however, everything went much easier than expected. “Something like that should be offered more often. Then a few people would definitely decide to have the vaccine after all,” says Hörger with conviction.
40 vaccinations were given on Monday by noon. Strohmeier estimates that the number will rise to 70 to 80 doses by the time it closes at 6.30 p.m. The organizers believe that the first vaccination drive-in in the Munich district would be a success – and will continue. “We will also be here for the next assembly,” says Strohmeier. Then a poster at the Jochen Schweizer Arena will draw attention to the vaccination campaign and signs will point the way to the entrance.
Meanwhile, the district is organizing immunizations in the four vaccination centers for children and adolescents from the age of twelve on Thursday and Friday, July 29 and 30, without an appointment or registration. In this way, in the last week of school, as many young people as possible should have the opportunity to start the summer holidays with the first vaccination.