Vaccination guides: advertising for the Piks – a difficult mission as a volunteer (video)

Sepideh Baghdadi’s job is not easy. The Iranian-born psychologist provides voluntary information about vaccination against the corona virus. Together with a colleague, she is on the road in Mainz on behalf of Malteser-Werke to offer vaccination appointments to passers-by. But that is not always met with enthusiasm. O-ton passer-by: “Because I don’t want to be vaccinated” O-ton Baghdadi: “Why don’t you want to be vaccinated?” O-ton passer-by: “I’ve already had Corona and I haven’t vaccinated myself against other diseases either, so I think God made my body so good that I can do it without vaccination.” Others don’t have anything against the spades, at least in principle. O-Ton Baghdadi “You can go by without an appointment, without registering.” O-ton passer-by: “Thank you! Yes, unfortunately I have to pick up my son. I have to be quick, thank you for the information.” The reactions on the street are very mixed, agrees Susanne Herbel-Hilgert, from the State Center for Health Research. In the municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate, however, open doors are being knocked down. “There are still many people in Germany who are afraid of vaccinations and who are not well informed. And that’s where we would like to provide support. We want to make an offer to talk and take people seriously with the fears they have, but actually also make sure that they are well informed and can make a good decision for themselves.” A huge plus is that the vaccination guides can reach people in their native language. For example in the Mainz-Finthern district, where a Red Cross vaccination campaign is currently taking place. “Up here, for example, as far as I know, there are more than 50 nations. Up here, it is definitely necessary for the vaccination officers to be multilingual.” The project has been implemented in Rhineland-Palatinate since November. There are now almost 40 vaccination guides in five municipalities.