Sunday 21 November 2021
Rationed Biontech deliveries
Schwesig has “no more understanding”
First Schleswig-Holstein, then Bavaria, now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Schwesig: Several state governments lack any understanding of the rationing of the Biontech vaccine. Schwesig demands the “immediate” withdrawal of the federal decision.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) has criticized the Executive Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) for the announced limitation of deliveries of Biontech vaccines against Covid-19. “One day after Chancellor Merkel called for all of them to be boosted as quickly as possible, the Ministry of Health threw chunks into the vaccination gear,” Schwesig told “Bild am Sonntag”. “I no longer understand Minister Spahn’s back and forth.” Schwesig demanded that the project be withdrawn “immediately”.
In a letter to the federal states, the Federal Ministry of Health announced restrictions on order quantities for the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer so that the Moderna preparation can be used more frequently for booster vaccinations. Otherwise, stored Moderna cans threatened to expire from the middle of the first quarter of 2022, which must be avoided. For the time being, practices should be able to order a maximum of 30 doses of Biontech per week, vaccination centers and mobile vaccination teams 1020 doses. There should be no upper limits for orders from Moderna.
Politicians from the CSU, FDP, SPD and Greens had sharply criticized the project. One allegation was that it was stalling the booster campaign. The medical profession also warned of an increased need for advice on the part of patients. It is feared that people who have already made booster appointments with Biontech might hesitate when they are offered Moderna, and that many inquiries result in significant additional work in the practices.
Warehouses are emptying
Spahn had regretted a possible additional expense. “I know that this short-term change means a lot of additional stress for many committed helpers on site in the doctor’s surgeries and vaccination centers,” he said: “And I expressly regret that.” The demand for Biontech has risen so strongly in the last two weeks that the warehouse is empty very quickly. He emphasized that with Biontech and Moderna there are two excellent and highly effective vaccines. “I can promise that anyone who wants to be vaccinated will get a good, safe, and effective vaccine.” In some studies on the effect of booster vaccinations, a third vaccination with Moderna even performed better than one with Biontech.
Studies show that the protection against infection with Sars-CoV-2 in vaccinated persons diminishes over time. With a refresher, the protection can be noticeably improved again.
“On the one hand, a booster protects the vaccinated very well against illness, but it also helps to break other chains of infection,” said Biontech founder Ugur Sahin of “Bild am Sonntag”. That could help us through the difficult winter ahead. He said at the same time that the Biontech vaccine protection began to decrease “from the fourth month”. Recently published studies showed, however, that the protection against severe corona disease is very high up to the ninth month.