Ulrich Ferber, Andrea Berg’s husband, runs a hotel in Aspach. The corona pandemic, like many others, plunged the house into crisis. Now the owner offers a vaccination appointment when booking a room. Is that fair?
Many want it, but not everyone gets it: a vaccination appointment. The fact that there is an imbalance in the distribution of the corona vaccines is not new. Those who are privileged with a free work schedule have more time to arrange an appointment for a vaccination than those who work shifts in a factory. Internet access is usually helpful, and comprehensive education can also be useful. But does money also play a role in benefits?
The Hotel Sonnenhof has a possible answer. The inn in Aspach has existed since 1950, in 1986 Ulrich Ferber and his brother took over the management of the family business. The two of them expanded the hotel, for example investing in an attached restaurant. But then Corona came and dragged a lot with it into the depths.
The ban on accommodation tore a hole in the till, as Ferber revealed some time ago in an interview with the local newspaper “Backnanger Kreiszeitung”. The bookings have decreased by 40 percent. The Sonnenhof lost almost nine million euros in sales. Now Ferber is not only a hotelier, but also an entrepreneur, celebrated successes as a player consultant and is even Andrea Berg’s husband. But she is not superwoman either, and finally suffered from being banned from appearing during the Corona crisis. So the Sonnenhof has to be helped out of the crisis in a different way. The business, which calls itself an adventure hotel, has been able to reopen since June 1, and guests can also be tested for Corona there. Since June 8th, the hotel has also been attracting visitors with a very special offer.
“With our partner doctor’s practice, with whom we cooperate in the tests here in-house, we offer […] our hotel guests also arrange vaccination appointments here at the Sonnenhof. With an appointment arranged in advance, you have the possibility of reliably receiving a vaccination with the desired vaccine from our family doctor in an uncomplicated manner, “says the hotel’s website.
Guests have a choice of three vaccines
When asked, t-online found out that guests can actually secure a vaccination appointment with a booking of at least two nights. You can even choose freely between the vaccines Biontech, Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson. When asked about the vaccine shortage, it was said that there was no need to worry, the partner doctor’s practice had enough vaccines available. A vaccination offer is always guaranteed.
Information about which practice carries out the vaccination and how many people have already made use of this offer was preferred not to be given for reasons of data protection. Guests get one night at the Sonnenhof per person during the week from 79 euros and on the weekend from 95 euros.
So if you have around 200 euros, plus travel expenses and meal allowance, you can buy a vaccination appointment from Andrea Berg’s husband in Aspach in the Sonnenhof. Prof. Dr. med. Georg Marckmann from the University of Munich is an ethics doctor and is not very surprised about this business model. “After the prioritization for the SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations was lifted, one had to expect that creative models would be developed in order to get a vaccination as soon as possible,” he said when asked by t-online.
From an ethical point of view, however, this is not at all to be welcomed, since the “administration of a preventive medical measure is influenced by irrelevant considerations, such as booking a hotel stay here.”
Inequalities in access to vaccination are increasing
In addition, such an offer reinforces the already existing “socio-economic inequalities in access to vaccination”, says Marckmann. “Disadvantaged population groups have a higher risk of an infection and a serious course, but have so far been more difficult to reach by the vaccination campaign. If the wealthy can now get quick access to the vaccination by booking a hotel, this will intensify these ethically unjustifiable inequalities. ”
Against this background, the medical ethicist assesses the lifting of the prioritization as critical. It would have been better to wait “until extensive vaccination coverage” had been achieved, especially among the disadvantaged population groups in Germany.
It is also worthwhile, as is so often the case, to take a look where you cannot easily get a vaccination appointment by booking a hotel, where vaccination has not even started. Marckmann warns that it should be considered “whether the supply of the poorer countries with vaccines should not have priority over a complete vaccination of the German population”. In Germany, the risk groups have been vaccinated, the pandemic is on the way out, but there can be no sigh of relief if no one thinks outside the box. “The pandemic is a global challenge. We will only really have overcome it when it has been overcome all over the world. The rich countries bear an essential responsibility for this.”
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