HALF of vulnerable Germans STILL haven’t had first Covid jab as 3.25 million left waiting thanks to EU jab shambles
HALF of vulnerable Germans STILL haven’t had their first Covid jab with 3.2 million people left waiting thanks to the EU’s jab shambles. Vaccine delivery in Germany has been hampered by production delays, political infighting and confusion over the use of the Oxford jab in over-65s. Of 8.6 million people most vulnerable at least 3.25 […]
HALF of vulnerable Germans STILL haven’t had their first Covid jab with 3.2 million people left waiting thanks to the EU’s jab shambles.
Vaccine delivery in Germany has been hampered by production delays, political infighting and confusion over the use of the Oxford jab in over-65s.
Of 8.6 million people most vulnerable at least 3.25 million, including many people over 80, have still not received a single dose.
In a stark contrast the UK has jabbed all vulnerable patients, OAPs and a third of all adults.
SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach told BILD: “The fact that so many older people have not yet been vaccinated is a big problem – we have to get these vulnerable groups to safety as quickly as possible with the vaccination.”
The “persistent shortage” of vaccines that are officially approved for the over 65s is being noted as one of the main reasons for the long wait.
Large swathes of older people across Europe have refused the Oxford jab after EU leaders repeatedly made baseless allegations about its efficacy.
German newspaper Handelsblatt reported that the jab was “hardly effective in seniors” in a controversial article on January 25 – but the data used to back the claims was rubbished by AstraZeneca.
It came despite a study finding that just one shot of the British-made Covid jab slashes older people’s risk of being taken to hospital by 94 per cent.
Figures show around two thirds of the 1.4 million AstraZeneca doses delivered to Germany have been left unused in storage.
And with a storage shelf life of six months, the expiry date on the vaccines is coming ever closer.
Meanwhile experts believe that older people are being put off by the fact they have to go to a vaccination centre, and are holding out for vaccinations to start with their GPs.
Stephan Hofmeister, Vice Head of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians said: “Doctors and patients know each other, there is trust that could induce many people to vaccinate.”
GPs are now starting to be drawn into the process as Merkel’s government tries to get its programme back on track, however for some the process is still too slow.
It comes as a German doctor lifted the lid on the country’s vaccine rollout shambles as she claimed one hospital only got three jabs and elsewhere medics face being blocked by red tape.
Daniela Stock, a consultant doctor at a hospital in Cologne, told The Sun Online about the failures she has seen during the rollout as just 6.6 million people have been jabbed so far in Germany.
She claimed one hospital she is aware of received only three vaccines, while her hospital was sent just 15 to cover a staff of 550.
Most read in News
Health workers and patients are being left unprotected as Germany continues to record up to 10,000 new cases a day amid fears of another surge.
A bombshell poll has revealed that Europeans are losing faith with the EU vaccine rollout, with only one in six Germans thinking it has gone well.
Criticism is harshest in Germany where more than half of people think Brussels has made a bad job of it, and just 17 per cent that it’s done well.