The City of Bonn plans to start vaccinations for younger children between five and eleven years of age at the Stadthalle Bad Godesberg on Friday. According to the city, the health department has ordered about 6,000 vaccination doses for them. Because half of the doses have to be set aside for the second vaccinations, 3,000 children can be vaccinated with them at first. On January 4, the city can place the next order. According to the statement, the city hall was chosen for children's vaccinations because there are indoor waiting facilities and the vaccination lines can be easily separated. Children can first get vaccinated on weekdays from December 17 to 23 and on December 28 from 12 to 6 pm.

Those wishing to be vaccinated during the 12pm to 4pm period must make an appointment online in advance. Registration is possible from Wednesday at eight o'clock at https://www.ciz-bonn.de/. In the period from 4 to 6 pm, vaccinations will take place without an appointment beforehand. The appointment for the second vaccination is either made automatically when an appointment is made in advance or when the first vaccination is made and takes place three weeks after the first vaccination. On the children's vaccination days, accompanying parents can also be vaccinated without an appointment. As the city further explained, vaccinations will also take place in the bread factory from January onwards. This will make it possible to offer 1,500 vaccinations daily.

In Bonn, the seven-day incidence rate has dropped significantly. As the North Rhine-Westphalia State Centre for Health explained on its website, the value on Tuesday is 225.1. On Monday, the incidence was still 265.6, on Sunday 266.8. Since yesterday, 110 people have been newly infected with the coronavirus in the federal city. According to this, about 2,000 people are considered to be infected. According to the city of Bonn, three confirmed cases and three urgently suspected cases of the Omicron variant have been registered. In addition, there are said to be two close contacts for whom the PCR result is pending. Meanwhile, the incidence value in the Rhein-Sieg district is 223.2. Since yesterday, another 180 people have been newly infected with the coronavirus. This means that about 6,800 people in the district are considered to be infected. In addition, two more people have died in connection with a Corona infection.

The number of Omicron cases in Bonn is increasing. "We have three confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in Bonn as well as three urgently suspected cases. In addition, there are two close contacts for whom the PCR result is pending," explains the head of the health department, Susanne Engels. Omicron is already present in more than 50 countries worldwide. Everything indicates that the Omicron variant will spread very quickly.

Of the confirmed cases, one person had no symptoms at all, while mild symptoms were observed in the other two. "The confirmed cases and all contact persons are regularly contacted by telephone by the Bonn Health Department," says Löcherbach. The city's public order service checks compliance with the quarantine on site.

Since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has bought well over 100 million rapid tests, which have cost between 59 cents and 14.63 Euro each. This is revealed in the state government's answer to a question by the SPD in the state parliament. According to the answer, the prices depended on "normal market factors" such as availability. When and with whom one paid almost 15 Euro per test, the government does not explain - this is subject to commercial secrecy. The report to the state parliament lists about 70 suppliers. Among them are pharmacies, from which 50 or 60 tests were purchased, as well as Siemens Healthcare with almost 94 million units. The company will supply the tests for secondary schools until the end of the year. (Original text: dpa/ga / Translation: Mareike Graepel)