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Ulm (dpa / lsw) - The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, has criticized the federal states for arbitrarily disregarding the federal vaccination ordinance.
"De facto, the prioritization has been violated in the countries for a long time," said the Ulm virologist in an interview with the German press agency.
Many have already been vaccinated who, according to the scientific criteria of prioritization, have not yet had their turn.
If educators, teachers or police officers are already being vaccinated, Mertens believes that the governments are moving away from the goal of protecting the weakest and most at risk for severe Covid-19 courses first.
However, loosening the prioritization should not lead to them being disadvantaged.
In Baden-Württemberg, with a view to school openings and pressure from trade unions, teachers and police officers were most recently given preference for vaccination.
At the same time, Mertens emphasized that the sequence of vaccinations has so far shown its desired effect.
"The prioritization with a view to individual protection works," said Mertens.
The data from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, showed that there are already significantly fewer serious illnesses and deaths in the group of people over 80.
If enough vaccine is soon available in Germany, it should therefore read: "Do one thing without leaving the other," said Mertens.
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The virologist expects the vaccination sequence to be further weakened due to the start of vaccinations by general practitioners.
These would “possibly make prioritization more difficult”.
But he trusts the general practitioners to adhere to the recommendations of the Stiko as far as possible with their patients.
This week in the southwest, the first family doctors will start a pilot project with corona vaccinations in order to rehearse the processes for standard care later in the year.
Regarding the sometimes loud criticism of the slow progress with the corona vaccinations, Mertens said he could understand both sides.
The countries would have to manage the shortage of vaccine, at the same time many people who, according to the prioritization, have not yet had their turn to be vaccinated.
"The prioritization was and is not the real problem, but the lack of vaccine," said Mertens.
The lack of options for implementing the vaccination sequence is also a problem.
Regarding a subsequent vaccination with a second corona vaccine, Mertens said that it was initially important that the first two vaccinations were made with the same vaccine in order to achieve complete immunization.
From an immunological point of view, however, it should not be a problem to receive a vaccination with an mRNA vaccine such as that from Biontech following a basic vaccination with a vector vaccine such as Astrazeneca.
There are initial studies on this question in Great Britain.
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With a view to the further course of the pandemic, the Stiko chairman considers it possible that in the future, as against the flu, a vaccination against the coronavirus will be necessary.
In view of the increasing vaccine deliveries, Mertens said he did not hope that we would have to discuss a lack of vaccination anytime soon.
But this is another reason why the protection of the weakest remains so important.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210309-99-743603 / 2
Standing vaccination committee