Berlin – The German government coronavirus the answer has descended into chaos. Chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to rescind a last-minute order this week for a strict Easter closure, accepting there was no time to implement the measure despite the rise in infections.
It was only the last false step of his coalition government, as it faces appalling criticism for its treatment of the pandemic, particularly for its hesitation. deployment of vaccines.
The need to increase inoculations is becoming increasingly urgent as a third wave of COVID-19 infections spreads through Germany. The head of the government’s health agency warned on Friday that Germany could see up to 100,000 new cases a day if the spread of the disease is not halted.
Europe’s largest economy, along with its European Union partners, has lagged far behind the UK and US in administering vaccines. As of this week, only 10% of Germany’s adult population had received at least one vaccine. This compares with 55% in the UK and 25% in the US. Germany is not even on the list of the top 20 countries in terms of vaccination rates worldwide.
While the European Union is working with vaccine producers to get more doses, supply is far from the only factor behind Germany’s low inoculation rate. According to official statistics, approximately 3.9 million doses of both Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are sitting on shelves across the country.
The country is also progressing more slowly compared to other EU countries, which have received about the same number of vaccines per capita. Denmark and Estonia, for example, have already administered more than 160 doses per 1,000 inhabitants. Germany is below the European average, with 125 per 1,000.
Proponents of Germany’s approach point out that a portion of the unused vaccine supply has been deliberately withheld to provide second doses. But the federal government extended the recommended number of weeks between doses in mid-February, in part to address this issue.
The decentralized nature of the launch has made it difficult for any entity to take responsibility. The 16 federal states of Germany are responsible for organizing vaccines in their own jurisdictions. Under pressure after his party failed to win two regional elections earlier this month, Merkel this week called on state administrators to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, which she said hampered the vaccine.
Dr. Joachim Wunderlich, a cardiologist who has helped staff a local vaccination center in Berlin, told CBS News that the bureaucratic process for vaccinating people in Germany was “amazing” and that the amount of paperwork involved was “insane.”
“You can’t expect a person over the age of 80 to fill out ten pages and numerous consent forms and ask them to call a hotline to make an appointment,” he said. “And then they run the risk of being sidelined because they forgot some forms at home.”
Public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine, in particular, has also been a huge problem. The government, along with several other EU nations, suspended use of the shot for a few days earlier this month, after reporting that people who had had it developed blurred clots.
Even after the European Medicines Agency has been clearly indicated after a data review that the vaccine was safe and the benefits of taking it outweighed all the risks, health professionals across Germany said many of their patients were still reluctant to book appointments for the shot.
Fears of blood clots came after Germany, followed again by some of its EU partners, initially refused to authorize the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 65, citing a lack of empirical data from trials proving it was effective for this age group. This hesitation came despite significant evidence from the real world in the UK, where the drug was already being administered to the elderly, which helped prevent serious illness.
With a few exceptions in remote areas, where doctors can offer vaccines, only mass vaccination centers and mobile units visiting residences are currently authorized. Across the country, these facilities continue to operate at only 67% of their capacity, which translates into approximately 100,000 unused appointment spaces each day.
But Germany has still only given the green light to people over 80 and people with severe pre-existing conditions to book appointments, leaving many more young people who would like to get a chance not to take advantage of overcapacity.
Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, a virologist at the University of Hamburg, told CBS News that while prioritization was absolutely necessary, a little more flexibility would make German inoculation much more efficient.
Nicolas Armer / alliance image / Getty
“Right now, we are in the process of vaccinating the 80-year-olds and the most vulnerable members of society, which is important from an ethical point of view. Given the shortage of supply, we need to follow this prioritization to to now, but the whole process has to be faster “.
The government is committed to speeding up deployment by allowing all German general practitioners (GPs or GPs, as they are commonly known) to administer vaccines to their local practices.
“Germany has a GP’s infrastructure that works properly. If they were included, we could vaccinate at a much higher rate, and that’s a long time ago,” Schmidt-Chanasit said.
Wunderlich agreed.
“I know my patients, I know their concerns and their pre-existing conditions. I don’t want them to call a hotline if they can only call their GP and be able to get the puncture in my practice,” he told CBS News. . “The pandemic is daunting enough. Bureaucracy and data protection laws shouldn’t make it worse yet.”