Home » Health » Doctors criticize vaccine waste – SWR news

Doctors criticize vaccine waste – SWR news

More and more people are eligible to vaccinate, but are not given an appointment. Doctors criticize that the corona vaccine doses could be used more efficiently. However, the legal situation is unclear.

Many doctors in Baden-Württemberg complain that they do not use the existing doses efficiently with the corona vaccination. “We waste thousands of vaccine doses,” says the medical practitioner Sabine Meyer (name changed by the editorial team). The doctor from the Stuttgart area received six ampoules of the Biontech vaccine in one week. Actually, she could only have vaccinated 36 patients against corona with it.

There were more as Meyer drew up another full dose per vial of the vaccine. “It works if you do it skillfully,” explains the doctor. But: It is moving in a legal gray area. That’s why she doesn’t want her real name published.

The doctor sees scope for the corona vaccination

Each of the small glass ampoules from Biontech with the “Comirnaty” preparation is sufficient for six corona vaccinations. The manufacturer guarantees that. But he still fills the vials with a little more vaccine so that the target is definitely achieved, even if a little vaccine remains in the syringes.

If the medical staff carefully draw out the syringes for the corona vaccinations or use special syringes, it is possible to get a seventh dose of the vaccine from a Biontech ampoule, according to doctor Meyer. For the active ingredient Vaxzevria from Astrazeneca, the manufacturer specifies ten vaccine doses per vial. According to Meyer, however, there is also an eleventh dose in it.

Corona: “If we can, we’ll take one more dose”

“We can save lives with every corona vaccination,” says Meyer. You have therefore decided for yourself to make the best possible use of the existing vaccine. “Wherever we can, we take an extra dose. Of course, we always stick to the prescribed amount of active ingredient with every vaccination,” emphasizes Meyer.

As a resident doctor, you can make a small difference – and the effect would be even more noticeable in the large vaccination centers. “We have to use every chance to bring down the third corona wave. We cannot afford anything else,” said Meyer.

“Wherever we can, we’ll take an extra dose.”

Medical doctor Sabine Meyer (name changed by the editorial team)

The doctor does not see any medical risk for the patients. Nothing changes in the preparation and also not in the prescribed amount of active ingredient administered. Many of her colleagues see it the same way, reports Meyer. That is precisely why the doctor would like more legal clarity: “It would be nice if this were approved from above and covered by liability law”.

Statutory health insurance physicians are demanding legal clarification

The Baden-Württemberg Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVBW) also speaks of an “unsatisfactory situation”. Press spokesman Kai Sonntag told the SWR that the doctors would be left in the dark as to whether it would be allowed and approved to take an additional dose if that was possible. “If doctors use more vaccine doses than the vaccine doses specified by the manufacturer per ampoule, they have to take responsibility themselves,” said Sonntag.

The KVBW spokesman calls for a definition at the state or federal level. One sentence in the vaccination ordinance would be sufficient, says Sonntag, for example with a view to the corona vaccine from Biontech. Namely: “The seventh dose is allowed.”

Again and again you read or hear that corona vaccines are left over in vaccination centers – or even thrown away. What is the truth of the allegations? A report from the vaccination center in the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart:

video-8f3f97d3-5dce-4e7a-adcc-91b6ea85aa04" class="asset video video-16by9" itemid="video-8f3f97d3-5dce-4e7a-adcc-91b6ea85aa04" itemscope="" itemprop="video" itemtype="http://schema.org/VideoObject">











tv/1455931.l.mp4"/>

Download video (4.9 MB | MP4)

Ministry of Social Affairs: decision by those responsible

On this point, the regulation in Baden-Württemberg is fuzzy. In a statement, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs wrote on request: “In Baden-Württemberg, the vaccination centers were informed that a 6th dose of Biontech is covered by the approval and can be taken.

The decision as to whether the 7th dose should be taken, if possible, rests with the responsible persons at the vaccination centers. This also applies to an 11th dose at Astrazeneca. “It continues:” It depends on the skills of the medical staff whether a complete seventh dose remains in the vial. If this is the case, it will also be inoculated. “

Regarding the question of possible liability, the Ministry of Social Affairs in Baden-Württemberg explains: “This question would only arise at the moment when vaccination damage occurs.” According to the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), one then speaks of a supply. The country provides this if a general vaccination recommendation is available. And: “In terms of care, it is basically not the fault of the vaccinating doctor or his employees when the vaccination is involved.”

Rhineland-Palatinate creates legal certainty

The neighboring Rhineland-Palatinate is already one step further. The state government in Mainz informs the SWR: “The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Health recommends taking a 7th dose of Comirnaty © or 11th dose of Vaxzevria © if the additional dose is completely and particle-free. This creates the necessary legal security for doctors. “

“Such a statement – that’s it,” says the Baden-Württemberg doctor Sabine Meyer. Then she reports another problem. Many people over the age of 60 did not want the Astrazeneca vaccine. The patients did not realize the risk of illness. The risk of a corona infection is far more real than the possible complications of the vaccination. Meyer emphasizes: “Everything is better than Corona.” That’s why she wants to get the most out of every vaccine ampoule.

– .

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.