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Berlin (dpa / bb) - After great interest in flu vaccinations last autumn, there are now many cans left in Berlin pharmacies.
"There is still a lot to do," said a spokesman for the Berlin Pharmacists' Association at the request of the German Press Agency.
He didn't give any numbers.
Based on estimates from its organizations in the federal states, the Federal Association of German Pharmacists' Associations (Abda) spoke a few days ago of around one million vaccine doses still available.
"In view of the cost of around 10 euros per dose, there is a high economic damage," said the Berlin association spokesman.
It was a special vaccination season: In October and November there was a “very severe delivery bottleneck”.
Some people really wanted to be vaccinated and went from pharmacy to pharmacy in search of the vaccine.
"Many pharmacies then reordered large quantities."
When these vaccine deliveries arrived at the end of November and beginning of December, the spokesman said the demand had already subsided.
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Nevertheless, experts assume that more people were vaccinated against flu this autumn and winter than is usual in this country.
For the 2020/2021 season, the Paul Ehrlich Institute released 25 million flu vaccine doses - a significantly larger amount than in previous years due to the pandemic.
An Abda spokesman said that more than 20 million people have now been vaccinated - and the vaccination still makes sense in February.
The flu vaccination is recommended for people over 60 years of age, the chronically ill and pregnant women.
The flu is usually rampant, especially after the turn of the year.
However, extremely low case numbers are recorded this winter.
According to experts, this is also due to the corona measures.
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According to the spokesman for the pharmacists' association, the flu vaccine is mostly durable until the summer, when it has to be destroyed.
Because flu viruses are very changeable and the vaccine is adjusted every year, the funds could usually not be used for several years in a row.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210213-99-423091 / 2
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