Corona virus: this is how vaccination takes place

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Christiane Fux studied journalism and psychology in Hamburg. The experienced medical editor has been writing magazine articles, news and factual texts on all conceivable health topics since 2001. In addition to her work for, Christiane Fux is also active in prose. Her first crime novel was published in 2012, and she also writes, designs and publishes her own crime plays.

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Millions of German citizens are currently being vaccinated in an unprecedented vaccination campaign. How do you get a vaccination appointment? Who receives which vaccine? Where can I get vaccinated? And what is the digital vaccination certificate all about?

How do I get a vaccination appointment?

You need an appointment for the vaccination. The individual federal states regulate the exact procedure. It can vary slightly from country to country.

Vaccination in vaccination centers

On the one hand, vaccination takes place in the vaccination centers. Appointments are made via special service numbers or the patient service of the medical on-call service 116117, which can also be used to make appointments online (www.116117.de). Alternatively, in some federal states, you can also register via the corresponding online portals. The invitation is then sent by SMS, email or letter.

Vaccination by resident doctors

Both general practitioners and many specialists (e.g. gynecologists, dermatologists, orthopedists) offer corona vaccinations. Who the general practitioners vaccinate first depends on their personal assessment of the individual risk of their patient for an infection or serious illness.

Vaccination by company doctors

Many company doctors have also been vaccinating against Corona since June. Some large companies have set up their own vaccination lines for this purpose. The sequence in which vaccination takes place here can differ from company to company.

Vaccination in vaccination buses

Many cities use vaccination vehicles in which you can be vaccinated without an appointment. You can find out where they are on the cities' internet portals.

Who gets which vaccine?

The Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) currently only recommends the vector vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson for people over the age of 60. The reason for this are rare cerebral vein thromboses, which occurred as a side effect, and only in younger adults to middle-aged people. This complication was no more common in older people than in unvaccinated people in this age group.

People under the age of 60 should therefore receive the mRNA vaccine from BioNTech / Pfizer or Moderna. However, after thorough consultation by a doctor and weighing up the personal risk, you can also get a vector vaccine - for example, because the waiting time for a vaccination with an mRNA vaccine would be significantly longer.

People under 60 who received a vaccine dose from AstraZeneca before this regulation also receive an mRNA vaccine as a second vaccination. According to initial studies, this combination even seems to be particularly effective in protecting against Sars CoV-2 infection.

The mRNA vaccines from BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna are now also approved in Europe for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and are now recommended by the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) to everyone in this age group. The corona vaccination is particularly important for children and adolescents with certain pre-existing conditions such as asthma, obesity, heart disease and trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).

How often do you vaccinate?

With the exception of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine (one dose is sufficient here), you always need two vaccinations so that the vaccine protection is fully developed. For the mRNA vaccines (BionTech / Pfizer, Moderna), the Standing Vaccination Commission recommends an interval of 3 to 6 weeks.

For AstraZeneca, the recommended vaccination interval was 9 to 12 weeks. In the meantime, because of its higher effectiveness, the second vaccination with an mRNA vaccine takes place - after just four weeks.

How do I prove that I am eligible to vaccinate?

Proof of age is easy with the identity card. Your family doctor can certify that you have a specific pre-existing condition that entitles you to be vaccinated.

Should pregnant women get vaccinated?

So far, only limited data are available on the safety and effectiveness of the corona vaccination during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The Standing Vaccination Commission therefore does not currently recommend general vaccination of healthy pregnant women. However, expectant mothers can name two close contact persons who will then be vaccinated for their protection.

The situation is assessed differently if pregnant women belong to a risk group - for example due to a previous illness or because they are particularly exposed to an infection. On the recommendation of the STIKO, after detailed information and a careful risk-benefit assessment, they should be offered a vaccination from the fourth month with an mRNA vaccine.

You can read more about this in the article Coronavirus: What pregnant women need to know now.

And what about breastfeeding mothers?

There is currently no comprehensive data on vaccination risks for breastfeeding mothers either. However, the STIKO experts consider it very unlikely that vaccination of the mother during breastfeeding poses a risk to the infant. In fact, vaccinated people could even protect your child through antibodies in breast milk.

Can children and adolescents be vaccinated?

The mRNA vaccines from BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna have now also been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the age group of 12 to 17 year olds. You can read more on the topic in the article Corona vaccinations for children and adolescents.

Which relaxations apply to the fully vaccinated?

Fully vaccinated and convalescents have greater freedom in times of higher incidence. This includes, for example, visits to restaurants and events without additional tests.

Nevertheless, they can also become infected with Sars-CoV-2, which is why they must continue to wear masks in prescribed situations. In addition, voluntary tests can be useful in particularly risky situations.

Digital proof of vaccination

The digital vaccination certificate serves as proof of complete vaccination protection. There are similar certificates for those who have recovered and for negative results from corona test centers. Such certificates can also be displayed in special apps such as the federal corona warning app.

The aim is for the owner to be able to quickly and forgery-proof proof that he can make use of certain basic rights again, for example when traveling on vacation or when accessing events for which a negative test result would otherwise be necessary - for example future concerts.