The state of Hesse will "naturally" implement the resolutions passed by the federal and state health ministers on Monday.

This was announced by Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) and Minister of Health Kai Klose (The Greens) on Tuesday.

In some vaccination centers in Hesse, children and adolescents between the ages of twelve and 17 can already be vaccinated free of charge.

That should soon be possible in everyone.

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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Daniel Meuren

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Pediatricians, adolescents and general practitioners also vaccinated in this age group.

A special medical consultation and accompaniment, but at least the consent of the parents, are necessary, according to Bouffier and Klose.

Where possible, low-threshold vaccination offers are also made.

In Hesse, 133 new corona infections were reported within one day.

The nationwide incidence was 19.2 - after 18.7 on Monday, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute on Tuesday.

Frankfurt continues to hover around the mark of 35 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past seven days (Tuesday 35.2).

The city currently has the most cases.

The number of fatalities was reduced by a correction of one death to 7586. In the intensive care units of the Hessian hospitals, according to data from the Divi register of intensive care physicians on Tuesday morning, 46 people with Covid-19 disease are being treated, 15 of whom have to be ventilated.

Frankfurt crosses the threshold again

In Frankfurt, meanwhile, the incidence has risen to over 35 again, as can be seen on the RKi dashboard.

The other large cities in the Rhine-Main area are still well below the critical mark that would result in restrictions for a municipality after five days above the value.

In terms of the vaccination quota, the difference between Hesse and the national average remains almost unchanged: The state is further 0.2 percentage points behind with 61.6 percent of first vaccinations, and even 1.1 percent behind the national figure of 52.6 percent for those who have been fully vaccinated.

The various vaccination campaigns have only limited success, and vaccination without deadlines in Hessian vaccination centers has not yet brought the hoped-for momentum.

Vaccinate the teenagers

The state government also wants to support the booster vaccinations decided on Monday for particularly vulnerable groups. "We will do everything we can to ensure that the elderly and people with previous illnesses and immune deficiencies in particular receive a new vaccination offer from September 2021." The vaccinations should be carried out by the treating physicians and use one of the two mRNA active ingredients.

In Hesse's largest vaccination center in Frankfurt, too, young people can be vaccinated "on a case-by-case basis" over the next few days. Because the responsible health department does not support the decision of the state ministers uncritically. A vaccination of the young people in the center is only carried out by doctors who are willing to act contrary to the current general recommendation of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO), according to the health department. The STIKO, to which doctors and scientists belong, has so far refrained from making a general vaccination recommendation for children from the age of twelve and has pointed to a lack of data.

"We will not force any doctor to act contrary to the STIKO's recommendation," emphasizes Antoni Walczok, deputy head of the Frankfurt health department.

According to Walczok, parents who make their way to the vaccination center with their children do not have to fear being turned away.

Those doctors who are ready to carry out the vaccinations are available for this task.

Registration is no longer necessary

Even if more people are likely to come to the vaccination center due to the opening of the age groups, the opening times in the festival hall will be shortened from Sunday onwards. Instead of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., vaccinations are only offered between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. This is confirmed by the head of the center, Benedikt Hart. The demand is simply too low to cover the off-peak times. All those citizens who have previously been assigned a fixed vaccination date in exactly this period should be written to in the coming days. According to Hart, you will receive the generally applicable offer to stop by without a fixed date.

Citizens at the Frankfurt vaccination center have been able to get immunized without prior notification for a week. More than 1,000 people were reached in the first few days, says Hart. As planned, the vaccination center, as well as the other 27 in Hesse, will be closed at the end of September.