The economic verdict on the corona vaccination centers was clear from the start.

As a means of managing shortages, it had to be accepted as long as there was not enough vaccine for everyone.

The long queues in front of the exhibition halls and sports halls, in front of ferry terminals and clinics that have been rented and retrofitted as vaccination centers, were accepted as much as the bureaucratic inconvenience, the number of watchdogs and check-in helpers and the lavish fees in some places for the vaccinators and their assistants.

It wasn't about saving, but about vaccinating;

the extra effort for the parallel structure was required.

Sebastian Balzter

Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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The judgment was hasty.

Not with regard to the need for the vaccination centers at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, but with a view to the supposedly inevitably far too high costs in the vaccination centers.

How expensive was vaccination in the centers really?

In order to determine the average costs per vaccine dose administered, the FAS asked the responsible ministries of all federal states and evaluated data from the Federal Social Security Office and the Robert Koch Institute.

Not all federal states saw themselves in a position to provide information, not all invoices are available for the entire period.

Those who take it carefully must also ask about the volunteers and armed forces soldiers whose use is not taken into account in the vaccination centers' balance sheet.

Theoretical capacity of 3.5 million vaccinations per week

Nevertheless, the interim results are already remarkable. The costs of setting up and operating the centers varied greatly from state to state. An average value for the whole of Germany can only be given for the first half of the year, it is around 50 euros per dose. In Hesse the centers were the most expensive at around 96 euros per dose, in Schleswig-Holstein they were the cheapest at 36 euros per dose.  

Most of the 400 vaccination centers that were once around are now closed. The vaccination campaign is now mainly carried out by around 55,000 general practitioners' practices and 8,000 established paediatricians in the country. This means that there are now around 150 times as many potential vaccination sites as before. The theoretically available capacity is sufficient to vaccinate up to 3.5 million people a week - at least that's what the statutory health insurance doctors managed to do in the summer. For the booster vaccinations, which are now pending for many, this means: If each of the around 56 million fully vaccinated people opted for a third injection, that would be done in 16 weeks at this rate.

That would be justifiable in terms of infection protection. But would it also be the cheapest solution? Doctors in private practice charge 20 euros for a corona vaccination. But that's not enough for them. Your chief lobbyist Andreas Gassen, the foreman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, demands 28 euros. A Frankfurt pediatrician who would rather not read his name in the newspaper would also be too little.

He says: A doubling or tripling would be appropriate in order to cover the additional effort in the practice, the many phone calls to make appointments and the consultations - and to get the faltering vaccination campaign going.

“Every practice is a small company.

In the long run, we can only do what is worthwhile, ”says the doctor.

“Of the 20 euros, 10 euros go as operating costs, the tax office takes 5 euros, leaving 5 euros.

And should I also convince vaccine skeptics for that? "