The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) has accused Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) of a “wrong” vaccination strategy that would waste up to a hundred million euros. Lauterbach is planning up to 60 million vaccinations in autumn and winter, said the chairman of the federal association, Andreas Gassen, of the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". According to a calculation by his association, however, only a maximum of 30 million vaccinations can be expected. A second booster for everyone over 60, a first booster for all younger people and a generous contingent for those who have not been vaccinated are generously included.
The federal government's goal of 50 to 60 million vaccinations "is unrealistic in our opinion," said Gassen. If Lauterbach ordered more than 200 million doses, as reported by the media, "it is to be expected that vaccines worth possibly a hundred million euros or more will have to be thrown away".
The chief physician also criticized the health minister's advice to under-60s to quickly get a second booster vaccination. "We know from Israeli studies, among other things, that a second booster does not make sense in younger healthy people," emphasized Gassen. With his recommendation for the second booster, Lauterbach is “pretty exclusive for everyone. I think it's wrong to recommend a fourth vaccination across the board for 30 or 40-year-olds."
He also sees no need for this in the coming autumn as long as there are no new and significantly more dangerous variants, Gassen added. "In any case, I will not have a second booster." He would even be reluctant to give the fourth vaccination to healthy older people, especially if they have just survived an omicron infection. The immune system is a highly complex organ.
Gassen also calls for all corona isolation and quarantine requirements to be lifted in order to alleviate staff shortages. "The isolation and quarantine obligations should be lifted until further notice, which would alleviate the shortage of staff in many places," he told the "NOZ". "We have to get back to normal. Anyone who is sick stays at home. Anyone who feels healthy goes to work.”
"We do the same with other infectious diseases such as the flu," emphasized Gassen. The number of infections has been very high for months. And since fewer tests are carried out at the same time, "we can also assume hundreds of thousands of undetected infections per day," said the KBV boss. "But: The courses are almost always mild."
The problem is “not the many infections, but that those who test positive stay at home for several days even without symptoms and are sent into isolation,” said Gassen. This would result in “staff bottlenecks in the clinics and elsewhere”.
