The demand for booster vaccinations with the new vaccines adapted to the Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.5 is high.
At the latest since the Standing Vaccination Committee adjusted its recommendations on Wednesday, the phones in many medical practices have been ringing because patients want to arrange a vaccination appointment.
Marie Lisa Kehler
Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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The Commission's recommendation for a booster, i.e. a first booster vaccination, applies to everyone from the age of twelve.
The second booster is still recommended for people aged 60 and over, members of vulnerable groups and medical or nursing staff, and people aged 5 and over with an immune deficiency.
30,000 vaccinations a week
The Hessian Vaccination Alliance, made up of doctors and pharmacists and the Hessian Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration, has come together to coordinate the procedure over the next few weeks.
"Even though demand has recently increased, there is currently no need to increase the number of vaccination centers in the public health service," Health Minister Kai Klose (Die Grünen) said in a letter.
The demand can be covered by doctors and existing municipal vaccination centers.
In addition, there is no commitment from the federal government to cover the costs for these vaccination centers beyond the end of the year.
According to the vaccination alliance, 30,000 vaccinations against the corona virus were administered in the past week alone.
The capacities are far from exhausted, says Klose.
Together, doctors and the public health service are able to vaccinate up to 600,000 people a week.
The resident physicians play an important role in this.
According to Klose, three quarters of all vaccinations are administered in practices.
According to Klose, the vaccination alliance will meet again at shorter intervals in the near future in order to be able to regularly assess and adjust the development of demand.
The Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs is currently reporting more new corona infections.
While the incidence, i.e. the number of new infections per 100,000 citizens, was 586.8 at the end of September, it has now risen to 722.7.
Intensive care units are 37.5 percent occupied
The situation in the hospitals is still comparatively relaxed, said Frankfurt's health department head Stefan Majer (Die Grünen) on Thursday evening before the members of the social committee.
According to him, the intensive care units in the Main metropolis reported a capacity utilization of 37.5 percent.
There are still capacities available on the normal stations.
On Thursday, the city of Frankfurt counted almost 1,800 active corona cases.
The focus will continue to be on protecting vulnerable groups, such as residents of old people's and nursing homes, explained Majer.
Compared to the previous weeks, an increased, albeit still moderate, incidence of infection can also be observed in facilities.
As far as the health department is aware, 17 residents of such a facility were infected with the corona virus on Thursday.