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Large quantities of the corona vaccine from the manufacturer AstraZeneca are dumped in Germany.

According to the Robert Koch Institute on Wednesday, around 238,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered so far.

According to the Federal Ministry of Health, however, more than 1.4 million AstraZeneca cans have already been delivered to the 16 federal states.

For weeks there was a lack of vaccine in the federal states, the vaccination campaign stalled, now the vaccine is here.

However, hundreds of thousands of cans remain unused in the refrigerator.

The chairman of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), Andreas Gassen, criticized the “vaccination jam” in the vaccination centers of the federal states on Wednesday.

KBV deputy head Stephan Hofmeister warned: “The vaccine should not be lying around without being vaccinated.

It has to be vaccinated. ”Why has it been so slow with the AstraZeneca vaccine so far?

One explanation is: Around half of the cans delivered were only delivered last Thursday.

On the two previous delivery dates on February 6th and 12th, the federal states received a total of around 730,000 vaccination doses.

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A closer look shows, however, that some federal states have not even inoculated the first delivery from AstraZeneca.

In Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse and Saxony, only a quarter of it was sprayed, in Thuringia around a third.

Source: Getty;

Infographic WORLD

In general, the vaccination rates for the AstraZeneca active ingredient differ enormously in the individual federal states.

Hamburg has already used 33.9 percent of the cans delivered, in Rhineland-Palatinate it is even 38.1 percent.

Far behind in this ranking are Thuringia with 8.2 percent, Baden-Württemberg with 6.2 percent, Hesse with 6.1 percent and Saxony with 5.1 percent.

Source: WORLD infographic

Is the skepticism about AstraZeneca's vaccine responsible for the backlog?

Compared to the active ingredients from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna, the vaccine from AstraZeneca has a lower effectiveness of around 70 percent.

In Germany, the vaccine is only approved for people aged 18 to 64.

The permanent vaccination commission (Stiko) did not have sufficient data on vaccination effectiveness in older people.

AstraZeneca is not ready to vaccinate?

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Reports of severe side effects also made the rounds.

In Braunschweig and Emden, an unusually high number of clinic employees did not come to work after being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca material; the vaccinations were temporarily suspended here.

However, experts emphasize that the vaccine reactions are to be expected.

Nevertheless, many citizens are apparently unsettled, and the willingness to vaccinate at AstraZeneca may be lower.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, the proportion of appointments in the vaccination centers that would not be attended is less than ten percent higher at AstraZeneca than at Biontech, said a spokeswoman for the WELT Ministry of Health.

Reasons for the refusals are usually not known.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, on the other hand, indications that the willingness to vaccinate with a view to AstraZeneca tended to be cautious, a spokeswoman for the NRW Ministry of Health said last week.

For AstraZeneca there seems to be another obstacle: In most federal states, people from the first priority group are still vaccinated.

It includes people over 80 years of age, employees in retirement and nursing homes or staff in intensive care units.

The latter are eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine if they are under 65 years of age.

This apparently causes the backlog in some federal states.

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The Ministry of Health in Thuringia informed the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" on Wednesday: "We are assuming that the target group under 65 of prioritization group 1 in Thuringia is largely exhausted." Vaccine was injected, in the care facilities only this vaccine is used for organizational reasons.

In Hamburg, the state government cleared this obstacle aside.

The city has already started to address individual groups of the second prioritization group and to provide them with the AstraZeneca vaccine, said a spokesman for the welfare agency WELT.

There are no signs of a lower willingness to vaccinate at AstraZeneca.

"Our pragmatic approach, combined with a high willingness to vaccinate, means that the quantities of the AstraZeneca vaccine can be used up."

So far, groups have been addressed in the second prioritization group that are “clearly defined” due to their occupations.

This included resident doctors and dentists as well as practice staff and police officers.

With the second prioritization group as a whole, the challenge arises that it includes groups that cannot be specifically addressed, but that can only be reached via the media or public information.

This prioritization group includes people with severe chronic lung diseases or severe diabetes.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, registration for individual professional groups from the second priority group does not start until Saturday.

Nevertheless, the state has so far been able to use the AstraZeneca vaccine more effectively than other states.

A press spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health attributes the success to, among other things, public relations.

At digital events, a team of experts answered questions about the vaccines to employees in health and care facilities.

"Experience also shows that any reservations about a vaccine can often be dispelled in a personal conversation with a doctor at the vaccination center."

Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg are now starting to allocate appointments for people with the second priority.

After the vaccination sequence has been changed, this will soon also include teachers at elementary and special schools and day-care teachers.

Then the previously unused AstraZeneca sockets can be used.