Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Reinhardt: “I’m a little speechless”
Medical chief stunned by lack of vaccine
The news of a possible missing vaccine in the spring of 2022 alarms experts and politicians. Medical Association President Reinhardt refers to shorter vaccination intervals, but is still amazed that hardly any vaccine is “on the heap”. A federal state changes the interval to the booster vaccination.
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, was stunned by the foreseeable shortage of corona vaccine for the refreshment campaign next year. “When you hear that, your mouth stays open,” said Reinhardt on Deutschlandfunk. It is completely inconceivable that the logistics in a country like Germany do not work. “I’m a little speechless at the news.”
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced yesterday, Tuesday, that an inventory had revealed a lack of corona vaccine for the first quarter of 2022. Reinhardt explained that after a review of the stocks and the order data, it had evidently been recognized that the vaccine would be scarce in the first few months of next year if the booster vaccinations were to be continued as planned.
Reinhardt admitted that the recommendations on vaccination intervals had recently been shortened several times, so that more vaccine was needed in a shorter time. Nevertheless, it is completely incomprehensible that after so many months of the pandemic, they were not able to dump enough vaccine. One could not actually imagine that the former Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn did not know anything about it. However, Spahn had already announced that he was in negotiations with Biontech / Pfizer about increasing the delivery volume.
NRW extends vaccination interval after criticism
North Rhine-Westphalia meanwhile backed down: Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst confirmed on Monday that booster vaccinations in North Rhine-Westphalia are generally possible after four weeks. Many experts criticized this solo effort by the most populous federal state. Today, Wednesday, it is said that the booster vaccination “as a rule” should not be given again until after five months. The minimum interval of four weeks is still possible in “individual decisions based on a medical indication”.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil also reacted irritated to the information about the available vaccine. The new government wants to regulate this much better, so Heil. “We are now using all channels, by all means, to get enough vaccine,” he assured us. He pointed out that the new government had set up a crisis team to organize the vaccination campaign and a panel of experts to provide advice. “Structures have now finally been created so that we can get Germany safely through this difficult winter, through the fourth wave.”