Vaccination summit: Lindner calls for more speed - Spahn dampens hopes

display

Hopes were high when the corona vaccinations in Germany started on Boxing Day - not even a year after the pandemic began.

But the joy is clouded.

For many people, the largest vaccination campaign in the republic is simply not going fast enough.

Insecure delivery dates for the scarce vaccine, busy appointment hotlines and vacant vaccination centers cause trouble.

Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) wants to smooth things over this Monday at a vaccination summit and explore the possibilities for more speed with countries and pharmaceutical companies.

But how realistic are simple, quick solutions?

In the run-up to the summit, FDP boss Christian Lindner called for an end to the accusations and concrete steps to speed up the corona protection.

For accelerated deliveries of vaccines, the state should rely on market competition, Lindner told the dpa news agency.

“That's why many economists recommend a Tempo premium for expanding production.

There must be an incentive for the industry to create additional capacity, ”he said.

The public administration should undertake to accelerate the processing of all permit applications for new plants.

display

"The demands from the CSU and the Greens for a state-controlled emergency economy should sound impressive, but they do not solve any problem," said Lindner.

"They are more of a distraction from the fact that it was government failure in procurement." If you see the immense cost of the lockdown, then an investment in accelerated capacity expansion in vaccine production is worth all means.

Expectations were raised over the weekend.

CSU boss Markus Söder, an “emergency vaccine industry” of the Greens chairman Robert Habeck, demands a “reliable delivery schedule” for weeks and even months for the coveted vaccines.

As a precaution, the federal government had dampened expectations.

Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) predicted "at least ten tough weeks" with a short vaccine.

The top-line video switch also serves Merkel and Spahn to now make everyone responsible.

Spahn dampened expectations of the federal-state conference.

In the Internet program of the "Bild" newspaper, Spahn made it clear on Sunday evening that he was not expecting any concrete decisions.

"We cannot produce more vaccines through a summit alone," he said.

Due to constant demands for more vaccination doses, "production won't get any faster".

display

How is it going?

What are the prospects?

The vaccine replenishment

The fact that vaccines are now so rare is neither sudden nor surprising.

"We have to get through the winter without being able to rely on the fact that we already have a large number of vaccines available," Merkel had already warned at the beginning of December.

But now the problem is becoming very tangible.

"It is all the more important for the federal states that we know exactly when and which deliveries can be expected so that we can plan better," demands Michael Müller (SPD), Berlin's governing mayor and head of the conference of prime ministers.

So far, over 3.5 million cans have been delivered in Germany.

2.2 million cans were injected.

Some countries store the vaccine first in order to have it safe for the necessary second syringe, while others administer everything at once, trusting future deliveries.

The third vaccine, that of Astrazeneca, was approved on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health, another 5 million vaccine doses or more will be delivered to the countries by February 22nd.

One thing is clear: it depends on the manufacturing capacity.

Merkel emphasized: "I do not run any production plants for vaccines."

The role of the manufacturer

display

With all due respect for the historically fixed development of the corona vaccines, the providers are under closer observation.

Biontech and its US partner Pfizer caused annoyance at the federal and state levels with a short-term announcement that they would temporarily deliver less due to factory renovations - even if this should make greater production possible.

There are great expectations for a new Biontech plant in Marburg.

The EU Commission had a sharp dispute with Astrazeneca: A good week ago, the British-Swedish group surprisingly announced that it would deliver only 31 million doses of vaccine to EU countries in the first quarter instead of 80 million.

The outrage was great, on Sunday Astrazeneca promised to deliver nine million more cans, a total of 40 million cans, as EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced.

Now Söder demands: “We have to be able to produce more.” Habeck wants all pharmaceutical companies to co-produce vaccines according to their capabilities.

But Spahn has already warned: "Vaccine production cannot be set up in four weeks." There is already cooperation between pharmaceutical companies.

For example, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi plans to deliver more than 125 million doses of the Biontech vaccine to the EU from the summer.

To this end, plants at the Frankfurt-Höchst site are to be converted.

The delivery prospects

Significant quantities of vaccine have been contractually reserved for Germany this year.

But they don't come all at once.

And especially with the small amounts at the beginning, even slight deviations can mess up vaccination dates.

More should be delivered in the second quarter, and even more in the third.

Provided that everything goes as planned by then.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 90 million Biontech cans, 50 million from the manufacturer Moderna and 56 million from Astrazeneca are specifically secured.

The consequences - of vaccines not yet approved - could be 37 million doses from Johnson & Johnson, 53 million from Curevac and possibly 55 million from Sanofi / GSK.

Spahn is already looking at other orders that go beyond the first vaccination offer - for example because of possibly extra vaccinations against virus mutations.

It is also unclear whether an amplifier vaccination will also be due after a few years with Covid-19.

The vaccination organization

The on-site vaccinations are run by the federal states, and some are further than others.

More than 400 regional vaccination centers should be ready, but it is far from being busy.

Appointments are gradually being offered.

Those who want to be vaccinated are often frustrated because many cannot get through on telephone hotlines.

The statutory health insurance physicians asked for patience and assured them that a “race” for appointments was not necessary.

Via their nationwide number 116 117, callers in most countries are directed to call centers that answer vaccination questions and sometimes arrange appointments.

You can usually do this online too.

But there are regular messages such as "Currently no vaccine available - no further vaccination appointments can be booked at the moment".

The Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) complains about shaky announcements - the delivery quantities for Moderna are lower than announced, Astrazeneca is subject to change.

Reliable appointments are so impossible.

The Saarland is pragmatic - with a joint appointment for several people who want to be vaccinated.

The vaccination schedule

display

The impatience is great - because the hope is: the more vaccinations there are, the fewer everyday restrictions are necessary.

For Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, they are “the decisive light at the end of the tunnel”.

Spahn has marked out intermediate stages: all nursing home residents should receive a vaccination offer by mid-February.

So far, 560,000 have been vaccinated - it is expected that up to 650,000 would like to be vaccinated.

By the end of March, all over-80s should have received a vaccination offer.

Little by little, other groups should be able to be vaccinated - but the order is still discussed.

Perhaps in the summer the vaccinations could then be transferred to the doctor's offices and move forward across the board.

Merkel affirmed that if everything worked out, everyone could be offered a vaccination "by the end of summer".

And the summer goes on calendar until September 21st.

That would also be in time for the general election on September 26th.

The German situation in comparison

In Israel, Great Britain and the USA, for example, more people per inhabitant have been vaccinated than in Germany.

In Great Britain, the Biontech preparation was approved at the beginning of December, and the Astrazeneca product that can be used in medical practices is already being injected there.

There are fewer major differences in the EU countries.

Vaccinations are unevenly distributed around the world.

According to the World Health Organization, around three quarters of the doses have been injected in ten countries.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns that it is not right for younger adults in rich countries to be vaccinated before the elderly and health workers in poor countries.

Experts also warn of setbacks in the pandemic due to vaccination nationalism: Virus mutations resistant to the vaccines could arise above all in countries where there is little vaccination.