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The point could soon be reached at which Germany is hoarding half as many vaccine doses as it has previously been vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, 12,495,345 doses were delivered - but only 8,161,239 doses were administered.

An overhang of currently over four million cans, or more than a third - and the range is now threatening to diverge further and further.

Because in the next eight weeks Biontech wants to deliver four million more cans to the European Union - in addition to the already secured deliveries of millions from all producers.

Only at the beginning of the week 960,000 Astra Zeneca cans were delivered and 1.01 million from Biontech.

A further 6.5 million cans are expected by April 4 - plus the now significantly increased Biontech delivery.

And, if approval is granted soon, there will also be a batch from the US manufacturer Johnson & Johnson.

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According to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, an "additional package" has been negotiated with the manufacturer and its US partner Pfizer so that EU countries can vaccinate specifically in Corona hotspots.

According to the distribution key, around 19 percent of the four million could go to Germany, which would correspond to around 760,000 cans.

That's good news - actually.

The first additional delivery will come in two weeks.

And that should further increase the backlog of unused cans: on a seven-day average, it is now around 3.2 million cans.

So far, the vaccination centers manage around one million vaccinations per week.

So that the traffic jam can be reduced quickly, some politicians and medical professionals are calling for two changes: a move away from prioritization and immediate vaccination in private practices.

"We could start today, the practices are ready"

From the beginning of April, the resident doctors should help to vaccinate the population.

But that is too late for the German Association of General Practitioners and the question also remains: will there be enough vaccine by then?

Source: WORLD / Alina Quast

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So far only a few “pilot projects” have been running there, and crisis management is not aiming for a nationwide start until “early April”.

Even the unexpected news of the Biontech replenishment does not change anything at first.

Ulrich Weigeldt thinks that too late.

“We could start today.

The practices are ready, ”says the chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners.

"We will certainly not have a vaccine left over," he announced.

Klaus Reinhardt, President of the German Medical Association, also told the "Rheinische Post" on Wednesday that too many specifications and test procedures only unnecessarily delayed the vaccination campaign.

"As soon as we have enough vaccine for everyone, family doctors and specialists should be able to decide for themselves the sequence of vaccinations."

Spahn curbed the expectations of a quick vaccination coverage

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Andreas Gassen, head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), is also calling for more speed.

In an interview with WELT, he said that up to 20 million vaccinations per month are possible in the practices - in addition to the approximately 1.5 million monthly vaccinations in the centers.

Immunization of the adult population is therefore still possible in July or August.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) reacted to the interview on Wednesday - and immediately put a brake on expectations.

The numbers would soon increase significantly, he told "ZDF".

"But the vaccination quantities will not immediately increase to 20 million a month or even ten million a week."

Vaccination start for general practitioners - discussion about prioritization

At the beginning of April, the corona vaccinations are to start in Germany's general practitioners' practices.

However, it still has to be clarified how the expected vaccine doses will be distributed to vaccination centers and practices.

Source: WELT / Simone Egarter

Some decision-makers are vehemently against a loosening of the vaccination sequence: Thomas Mertens, for example, the chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), has been warning against this for days.

Particularly endangered people threatened to “slide backwards”, he argues.

Health Minister Spahn's statements on this are, at least in part, contradictory: “Is the order now goodbye?”, ZDF presenter Dunja Hayali wanted to know from him on Wednesday.

"It is still necessary," replied Spahn.

“It is still important to adhere to the prioritization,” he added, emphasizing the word “still” without giving a date for a possible departure.

Ultimately, the decision depends on Spahn.

A resolution would not be surprising.

The prioritization list has already been changed four times.

As of this week, the federal states will be able to deviate from the order if this is necessary for “efficient organization of vaccinations” and “prompt use of existing vaccines”, according to the relevant ordinance.

In spite of this, the latest resolutions of the federal-state conference state that vaccination outside the centers - i.e. in practices or companies - must be vaccinated “strictly” according to prioritization.

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Anette Wahl-Wachendorf, Vice President of the Company and Company Doctors' Association (VDBW), is surprised. "Company doctors will not, for example, filter out chronically ill people from the workforce," she told WELT AM SONNTAG last week.

"For a quicker vaccination, we have to deviate from the bureaucracy a bit," the doctor demands.

If all 12,000 company doctors work an additional two hours a day and administer ten doses per hour, five million vaccinations per month would be feasible, according to VDBW.

Even double the number is possible with longer daily use - i.e. ten million per month.

However, in the federal-state resolutions it is said that the company doctors will only be "more involved in the course of the second quarter" - so there is not yet an exact schedule.

On Wednesday, Health Minister Spahn will meet with representatives of the company doctors to discuss how to proceed.

A result of the round had not yet been determined by the editorial deadline.

In the Vogtlandkreis, anyone aged 18 and over can be vaccinated

As with the quick tests, local single aisles are now passing the official specifications.

A week ago, the city administration of Krefeld (North Rhine-Westphalia) decided to vaccinate its educators and teachers because of thousands of unused doses - a week earlier than the State Ministry of Health in Düsseldorf planned.

And since Wednesday everyone in the Vogtlandkreis has been able to get vaccinated from the age of 18.

This is justified with the high number of infections.

The deviation had previously been approved by Jens Spahn's Ministry itself - contrary to his statements on Wednesday.

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