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Actually, it was a logistical masterpiece: When Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) announced the start of the large vaccination against the pandemic at the end of last year, the whole country was made fit for the onslaught of vaccinators within a very short time.

Exhibition halls and administration buildings were converted into medical centers, doctors and nurses were recruited, and mobile teams were put together for the nursing homes.

But four weeks after the official start there is a yawning emptiness in most vaccination centers.

And anyone who tried to secure an appointment for the coveted vaccination for their own parents or grandparents outside of nursing homes often got the same answer: "Unfortunately, appointments are currently not possible."

If you ask about the reasons for Germany's sluggish vaccination start, the answer from Schleswig-Holstein to Bavaria is the same everywhere, as a survey by WELT AM SONNTAG among the 16 state governments shows: There is still far too little vaccine.

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"There is a massive problem with the amount of vaccine available that the federal government makes available", criticizes the Ministry of Health in Baden-Württemberg, for example, and puts the buck for the misery on the federal government.

The federal government has secured a total of around 292 million doses of vaccine from a total of five different manufacturers, as an overview from the Federal Ministry of Health shows.

Of this, around 242 million are attributable to the share from the agreed EU contracts and a further 50 million to separate agreements with the two German manufacturers Biontech and Curevac.

But until when delivery can be made and how much material can really be expected in the coming weeks - completely unclear.

Waiting for AstraZeneca

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And of all companies, AstraZeneca, on which the EU had long placed the highest hopes for its orders, disappointed: The British-Swedish group announced that due to production problems in Belgium, instead of the previously agreed 80 million vaccine doses, only 31 million will be delivered by the end of March to be able to.

Because the group is cutting EU deliveries, but not those to Great Britain, the EU Commission is at odds with the managers.

On Friday, it obliged pharmaceutical manufacturers to obtain approval before exporting vaccines made in the EU.

The prerequisite for an export is that the respective company has already delivered sufficient cans to EU members.

Confusion is also caused by the fact that Europe's pharmacopoeia are apparently divided over the use of the vaccine.

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The European supervisory authority EMA now recommends the substance for all adults, while the experts of the Standing Vaccination Commission in this country only recommend the vaccine for people under 65 years of age because there is not enough data on the effectiveness for older people.

The vaccine from Great Britain received conditional marketing authorization for the EU on Friday and could theoretically be vaccinated immediately - if it were available.

In the federal states that are responsible for implementing the vaccination strategy locally, the lack of predictability is causing frustration.

The commitment and communication of the contractual partners is "unsatisfactory", criticizes Hesse's health minister Kai Klose.

“Like all federal states, we need planning security with regard to delivery dates and quantities, this is the prerequisite for reliable vaccinations.

Unfortunately, the manufacturers have so far at best ensured this through their short-term rescheduling. "

Big differences in vaccination speed

However, there are big differences between the individual federal states when it comes to vaccination speed.

According to this, the federal states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Rhineland-Palatinate, which are relatively small in terms of their population, are far ahead with vaccination rates of 3.4 percent each around four weeks after the start of vaccination.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Health Minister Harry Glawe justifies the vaccination success with the “high willingness to vaccinate” in the population.

In addition, more than 600 volunteers have made sure that the vaccination logistics are on the way quickly.

“It's good that we are way ahead in a nationwide comparison.

But it is much more important that more and more people in Germany and Europe can be vaccinated, ”says Glawe.

The federal states, which are behind in vaccination, defend themselves against accusations.

According to this, some federal states have apparently pushed ahead without ensuring the corresponding number of second vaccinations, as the federal government recommends.

“Our goal has always been to be reliable and not to make false promises,” comments the Ministry of Health in Stuttgart about the poor performance in a national comparison.

“Other countries have been more guided by a table position in the RKI ranking.” The situation, especially the delivery difficulties of some manufacturers, shows that the path taken is the right one.

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“While there is now chaos in other countries, thousands of appointments have to be canceled and postponed or a vaccination ban is imposed, in Baden-Württemberg vaccinations can take place as planned and promised despite delivery cuts.

That is more important to us than any place in the RKI table, ”said a spokesman.

Currently, due to the lack of available vaccine, only 7,000 first vaccinations per day are possible.

The rate of vaccination should decrease

The front runners Rhineland-Palatinate and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, however, point out that they have set aside enough vaccine.

"The second vaccinations are guaranteed," says Schwerin.

The reduced delivery quantities from Biontech would have no effect on this.

Which doesn't change the fact that a lot of vaccine is missing overall.

Rhineland-Palatinate explains that they are working with a rolling system.

"Each time the first appointment is assigned, the second appointment is also stored in the planning," it says there.

In the next three weeks, however, the vaccination rate in the state is likely to decrease: Because there is a lack of vaccine, the first vaccinations will be suspended for the time being and only second vaccinations will be given.

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Pioneers and those left behind - some federal states do not want to leave this image standing for another reason.

The published figures from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) do not always seem up-to-date, for example on the vaccinations administered with the vaccine from the manufacturer Moderna.

"The number of vaccinations is reported daily to the RKI," explains a spokesman for the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Health.

"Apparently the RKI has not yet updated the data here."

How big the chaos of numbers can be was shown this Wednesday in Bavaria.

The RKI had to adjust the number of first vaccinations administered in the Free State downwards.

Instead of a total of 290,000 people, only around 279,000 people would have received the first vaccination by then.

Appointment chaos

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There is also chaos when making appointments.

Since last Monday, people in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to make vaccination appointments for seniors over 80 years of age.

But after the start, the disillusionment followed: The demand was greater than expected - the state government, with around 1200 employees for appointment telephony and the online portals created specifically for appointment booking, was originally well positioned.

The result: long queues and unreachable websites.

In addition, the opposition in the state parliament criticizes the fact that there are too few centers in the country, although the distances there are much further than in the big city.

Something else could give some federal states a head start: unauthorized changes to the vaccination sequence.

The Bremen Senate decided this week to set up a vaccination commission that may decide on deviations from the given prioritization - at least in individual cases.

Younger people with a very high risk of disease can now hope for an early vaccination.

There are similar considerations in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Other countries do not want to waste time either.

"If smaller amounts of vaccine are left at the end of a vaccination campaign, the mobile teams are encouraged to use them on a low-threshold basis for people with the highest vaccination priority," explains the Ministry of Health in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania report something similar.

People in front of the crowd who use the vaccination chaos to pick up their Pikser early are apparently the exception.

"There have been isolated indications that the German Red Cross has not been vaccinated at vaccination appointments," says the Ministry of Health in Saxony.

Other ministries know nothing about it yet.

Source: Welt am Sonntag

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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