The first vaccinations have been administered in Germany over the weekend with a flurry of publicity. The Local.de reports that a 101-year-old woman in a retirement home was the very first person to be inoculated against coronavirus on Saturday, December 26th. Though places like the UK, USA, and Canada have been busily handing out the vaccine since mid-month, this was still ahead of Germany’s cautious approach waiting for emergency approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). There has been some valid critique that Germany’s roll-out has been too slow, especially considering the creators of the fizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are a German-Turkish couple, a point of pride.

Coronavirus image – CDC

The fact is there are about 80 million people to inoculate in Germany, it takes two shots to vaccinate, only 3 million vaccines are currently available in Germany (11 million more are coming in the next three months), and according to experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) a vaccination coverage rate of 60 to 70 percent of the population is necessary to effectively combat the pandemic. German Health Minister Jens Spahn plans to meet that mark of 60 percent of Germany’s population vaccinated against coronavirus by the end of summer 2021 but it could take at least a year for the entire German populace to be vaccinated. The German government is reviewing other vaccines and if those are approved it will be possible to vaccinate more people quickly, but that is sure to arouse further debate. It is a mammoth task.

Current COVID Situation in Germany

As has been the case this entire pandemic, I was far too optimistic in my last post. Christmas 2020 and the holiday season was mostly cancelled as infection numbers continued to climb. Things I naively recommended like visiting pop-up Glühwein stands were later strongly advised against as they went against the spirit of isolation. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an unusually impassioned plea for people to not just adhere to the letter of this social distancing standards, but truly isolate.

Within days of her speech a heightened lock down was agreed upon. Alcohol is banned on the streets, all Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) were canceled, schools and KiTas were closed early for break, and gatherings were restricted. We were back in lock down, just like in March. Even though we had been warned multiple times about the likeliness of this scenario as winter approached, it was depressing.

There was a slight and confusing easing of the rules from December 24th to 26th where meetings with up to four people beyond one’s own household were permitted (with other formations permitted), but even that was advised against. Most people I know only celebrated Christmas with the people in their household, although there were a lot of lonely pleas on forums about people celebrating alone.

Silvester (New Year’s Eve) will also look a bit different with no organized fireworks displays and private fireworks prohibited in busy squares. Fireworks will be discouraged all around, though I have already heard isolated booms in the past week. Gatherings will also be restricted to a maximum of five persons from a maximum of two households. Not much of a party.

These restrictions are in place until January 10th, but it seems very likely they will be extended til at least the end of January with rumors of closures until the end of March. The last lock down was extended several times so we have to be prepared for an uncertain beginning to 2021. I know my friends in Seattle have been dealing with at home childcare for the better part of 9 months, but this news sent a chill down my spine.  I, along with many others in Germany, am hoping a rapid inoculation schedule can have us back to “normal” sooner rather than later. In the meantime, mind your “AHA” protocol which translates to “Abstand, Hygiene, Alltagsmasken“, or distance, hygiene, masks.

Who Gets the COVID Vaccine First in Germany?

The German vaccine commission has created a list of priorities for who gets the vaccine first.

• Group 1: People over 80 years old; care workers who work in elderly people’s homes or regularly look after the elderly or the mentally ill; health care workers with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 (estimated total of 8 million people, expected to take until about March)
• Group 2: People over 70 years old; those with underlying health conditions that significantly increase the risk of dying from COVID-19 including dementia; recovering from an organ transplant, Down Syndrome, etc.; those who live or work in close contact with people in care or pregnant women; doctors and other health care workers who have a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19; essential workers who maintain public hospital infrastructure.
• Group 3: People over 60 years old; people with underlying health conditions that significantly increase the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 such as diabetes, cancer, chronic kidney or liver conditions, HIV or other immune-deficiency conditions, heart conditions, asthma, and clinical obesity; health care workers not already included in the first two groups; those vital to maintaining the state apparatus, including the government, police, fire departments, disaster relief, and parliamentarians; critical infrastructure workers, including those maintaining power, water, and food supplies, telecommunication networks, the transport system, the pharmacy network, and refuse disposal; teachers and daycare workers; those in precarious part-time jobs, including meat-processors, and warehouse workers; retail workers.

Germany’s federal government will cover the considerable cost of the vaccinations and organization, though each of the 16 federal states will be responsible for distribution. States are fast at work transforming concert halls, supermarket storage facilities, hotels, former refugee centers, underutilized airport areas, and even ice skating rinks into vaccination centers.

Vaccinations in Germany

Impfungpass to record vaccination records Photo: Sarah E

Though vaccines are extremely common in Germany and administered under the watchful eye of the Ständige Impfkommission or “STIKO” (Permanent Vaccination Commission associated with the Robert Koch Institute), the COVID vaccine will not be mandatory. Luckily, most Germans – an estimated 46 million – are willing to get vaccinated. Everyone I know is eager to take part and add the COVID vaccine to their Impfpass (Vaccination Passport).

However, that does not account for everyone in Germany. There has been some skepticism about the vaccine as seen in other parts of the world. People protesting COVID-19 safety measures have made odd bedfellows, gathering typical anti-vaxxers with conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites, believers in alternative medicine, and a popular vegan cookbook author and his followers. Strange times. The largest of these demonstrations drew 38,000 and was held in Berlin on August 29th, led by the Querdenken 711 group. None of this is that surprising as vaccines have come under fire before and it is a continual hot topic on social media. In a popular Facebook family group I am a member of, the topic of vaccines has been banned as people failed to hold civil conversations on the topic.

To combat any misinformation, the Robert Koch Institute provides information on this vaccine (as well as all the other regularly scheduled inoculations) on their website and in pamphlets in many different languages, with staff willing to explain how they work and answer questions. I hope the clear information available on the COVID vaccine will prevent people from being swayed by quack theories and we will all be moving forward into a healthier 2021.

Bleib glücklich und gesund. Ich wünsche Euch einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!