The pace is likely to slow down again: Several vaccination centers will remain closed over Easter


The pace should slow down again
Several vaccination centers remain closed over Easter

Politicians got lost with their idea of ​​an Easter lockdown, and Chancellor Merkel even apologized. But there will probably be something like an Easter break – with the vaccinations.

A number of vaccination centers in Germany will remain closed over the Easter holidays. For example, no work is done in the vaccination centers in Brandenburg on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, according to a survey by the “Bild” newspaper in the federal states. In Saarland there is generally no vaccination on Sundays.

In Thuringia there is also no vaccination over the holidays, except on Saturday in a vaccination center in Erfurt. In other federal states, including Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, closings are possible, according to the state governments. That depends on how much vaccine is available. There is less vaccination overall on weekends, as official figures show. While more than 300,000 people get their injections a week, there are not even half as many on Saturdays and Sundays.

The federal and state governments are under criticism because the vaccination campaign in this country is far behind the pace of other countries such as the USA, Great Britain and Israel. In Germany, just under 11 percent of the population received their first vaccination dose, in Israel it is already 60, in Great Britain a good 43 and in the USA just under 28 percent – a daily vaccination record has only just been set there.

Lack of vaccines is not the only reason

In Germany, almost 138,000 cans were vaccinated on Sunday, a little less than the week before. Reasons for this are, in addition to the shortage of vaccines, the vaccine prioritization, which many perceive to be too rigid. First people in the 80 plus age group should receive the vaccine. Another setback for the vaccination rate was the occasional occurrence of cerebral vein thrombosis after vaccination with the Astrazeneca preparation and the subsequent suspension of vaccinations for days. This seems to have led to uncertainty and skepticism about the preparation in the population. In Berlin, for example, many citizens let Astrazeneca vaccination appointments pass. But since there is no large-scale replacement system, the vaccination rate slows down.

The British authorities were able to vaccinate so many people because all vaccine stocks were injected initially without making reserves for the second vaccinations. Proponents of this strategy point out that a large part of the protective effect is already given after the first dose. When it comes to second vaccinations, the values ​​for Germany and Great Britain are the same. In the United Kingdom, 4.9 percent of the population enjoy full protection, in Germany it is 4.7 percent.

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