Nationwide vaccine drive this week Immunization Action Week in Germany
NRW · Germany launched a nationwide vaccination campaign today in hopes of making better progress with vaccination rates. In NRW, there is a slight downward trend in the incidence rate but school children remain particularly affected. Here are some of the latest developments from the GA live blog on the pandemic.
In the fight against the Covid pandemic, Germany launched a nationwide vaccination initiative on Monday, September 13. The campaign is called #HierWirdGeimpft ( #here is where you can get vaccinated) and it is hoped that the initiative will bring new progress. Every person can get a Covid-19 vaccine, available at many locations, with no appointment necessary and free of charge. In addition to the established vaccination centers, there will opportunities for a limited amount of time to receive a vaccination in places like libraries or shopping centers. It is hoped that these efforts will drive the vaccination rate up.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) called on citizens on Sunday to take advantage of the opportunity. "It has never been easier to get a vaccination. It has never been faster," she said. Vaccinations will also be offered at volunteer fire departments, on trams, at the sidelines of soccer fields and in mosques, she added. Immunization Action Week runs through Sept. 19.
Currently, about 62 percent of people in Germany are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The rate has continued to rise but only very slowly recently.
Slight downward trend in Covid incidence rate in NRW
A slight downward trend in the Covid incidence rate in North Rhine-Westphalia continues. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on Monday, the number of new infections in seven days per 100,000 inhabitants was 99.3 - after having reached 100.8 on Sunday.
Health departments in NRW reported 988 new infections within 24 hours, and one death was also reported. Wuppertal (219.7) remains the leader in the number of new infections. In second place is Lippe (166.9) followed by Gelsenkirchen (137.8). The lowest incidence rate was recorded in Wesel (48.9).
By far the highest proportion of new infections continues to be amongst children of school age: for 10- to 14-year-olds, the incidence was 289.0 (299.8), for those aged 5- to 9-years-old 242.9 (251.1) and among 15- to 19-year-olds 192.1 (203.2), according to data released by the North Rhine-Westphalian State Center for Health on Monday.
Latest Covid incidence rates in Germany
The seven-day incidence is 81.9 nationwide, according to the Robert Koch Institute in data released Monday morning. On the previous day it had been 80.2, and a week ago, 84.3. However, the RKI dashboard on Sunday showed only one newly added case for Baden-Württemberg. In the days before, there were well over 1,000 each day.
Germany-wide, twelve deaths were recorded within 24 hours, according to the new data. A week ago, there were eight deaths. As of Friday, the number of Covid patients admitted to hospitals per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days was 1.95. The highest number was 15.5 at Christmas time.
The number of people who have died from or with the involvement of a confirmed infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 92,618.
Orig. text: GA
Translation: ck
