Coronavirus – vaccination centers remain closed – district of Munich
A reopening of the vaccination centers in Unterschleißheim, Oberhaching and Planegg is not expected in the short term. “We will reactivate the three closed vaccination centers exclusively at our own expense,” said District Administrator Christoph Göbel (CSU) in response to demands made by the Executive Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) for the vaccination centers to be reactivated. Spahn will thus advance the so-called booster vaccinations, i.e. also refreshments with a third corona vaccination. The minister repeated his opinion on Wednesday at a press conference with Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), in Berlin. Too many people who want to be vaccinated cannot currently find a doctor who will vaccinate them. The federal states would have to undertake to leave vaccination centers in stand-by mode and should now reactivate it, said Spahn.
Up until the end of October there were four vaccination centers in the Munich district: in addition to the one in Haar, which is the only one still in operation, there are stations in Oberhaching, Unterschleißheim and Planegg. District Administrator Göbel rules out that the three dissolved centers will go back into operation, as long as there is no request from the federal government or the Free State. The vaccination center in Haar is completely sufficient, and the capacity there can be increased “within a few days” from the current 350 vaccinations per day to 2000 immunizations. “The plans for this are in the drawer,” said Göbel. It is currently planned to keep the Haarer vaccination center open at least until April.
One doctor thinks it is better to give the doctors ten euros more
According to Gerhard Bieber from the Johannitern, who operated the Oberhachingen vaccination center until October, the aid organization is able to jump in quickly if additional capacities are needed. “We have the technology and the knowledge,” says Bieber. If a vaccination center has to be built up from the ground again, the challenge would be to find staff quickly, according to the press spokesman. “In the short term, however, we could also go into operation with volunteers and our own employees,” said the Johanniter spokesman. At the moment, however, no corresponding interest has been identified on the part of the district. Mobile vaccination teams can also put the Johanniter on its feet quickly, according to Bieber, as they had already done during the entire vaccination campaign. “When we are needed, we are ready,” assures Johanniter.
The Unterschleißheim family doctor Friedrich Kiener, who worked in the city’s vaccination center, criticized Jens Spahn’s “actionism”. “The hectic rush must be taken out of the debate,” said Kiener. “Vaccination, including boosting, is a task that family doctors can do.” The cost of vaccinations in the vaccination centers would be “400 to 500 percent” higher than in the practices because of the infrastructure and staff required. It would be better for general practitioners to have a small potential incentive to speed up the vaccination process: “Ten euros more for doctor per vaccination could induce even more doctors to vaccinate again.”
From the point of view of the medical professional, the recommendation of the Standing Vaccination Commission should initially only immunize people over the age of 70 and particularly vulnerable groups a third time against the coronavirus. Spahn had suggested offering boosters “basically to everyone”. “Such demands only make people nervous,” warns Kiener.