Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
Doctors’ practices should finally be utilised in Germany’s vaccination drive against the coronavirus. At the request of Health Minister Jens Spahn, doctors in Germany are to start administering jabs nationwide from the beginning of next month - as long as everything goes to plan.
In a move that is intended to significantly increase the pace of immunisations in Germany, from the beginning of April, GP surgeries will also begin delivering COVID-19 vaccinations. This was announced by a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Health on Wednesday, after a discussion between federal and state health ministers.
However, as it currently stands, the April start date looks somewhat ambitious. On the one hand, the proposal still needs to be discussed at the next coronavirus summit between the federal government and the federal states on Monday, March 22.
At the same time, it is also unclear whether enough vaccine doses will be available by early April to enable both vaccination centres and GP surgeries to administer jabs at the same time.
Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert was, however, optimistic that things would work out in the course of the coming month. “In April the vaccination programme will pick up speed,” he said, adding that all deliveries expected in the first quarter of the year look on schedule to arrive on time - there might even be more than expected. Seibert assumes that the number of doses available per week will grow from three to four million in April.
According to the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV), there are 75.000 general practitioners and specialist surgeries in Germany who are available to administer vaccinations. If 50.000 practices administered 20 doses of vaccine each day, according to the KBV, this alone would amount to up to five million vaccinations a week.