Up to mid-July, another 12,500 first doses of the Biontech and Moderna vaccines can be given at the Bonn vaccination centre. “The state of NRW has allocated a corresponding vaccine quota,” says the city of Bonn. The dates can be viewed on the KV booking portal at www.116117.de. There are a number of time slots free for the two mRNA vaccines between 6 and 11 July. Those who have already registered on the portal will have received an email about this in the last few days. In addition, the vaccination campaign for election workers, whom the city authorities contacted directly, has started. This group of people still has the opportunity to book appointments up to and including Friday, 2 July. After that, appointments must be made via the KV.

The vaccination progress made in Bonn can be seen in the figures: As of Thursday morning, there have been a total of 203,054 first vaccinations and 143,132 second vaccinations in Bonn. However, these figures include not only Bonn residents but also people from other districts who have been immunised in Bonn. Measured against the number of inhabitants - just under 330,000 - a large proportion of people in Bonn have nevertheless already received at least one injection. This is now causing problems for the doctors who vaccinate in their practices. “Our patients on the lists that we keep have already been vaccinated now," explains a doctor in Bonn. Although there are still some who would make an appointment, she says. “However, some of them don't come and don't even cancel”. But the vaccine is already ready, because it is often prepared at lunch time to be administered in the afternoon. “If five out of 38 people don't show up, the phone calls start.” The lists that could be consulted on the spur of the moment in such cases have already been worked through, she explains. “We then have a hard time getting rid of the doses at such short notice.” That would be “like school” she says: We tick off those who are present. If someone is not there, we try to find out why they are not coming. “But it is difficult to reach them then.”

Some doctors are therefore considering not vaccinating at all, in order to free up themselves and their staff and be able to concentrate on their regular work again. “It would be better if the vaccination centres stayed open longer,” says one medical professional. The centre at the WCCB is due to close in September. Another solution could be larger vaccination sites, such as the one set up by doctor Philipp Klassen and Rheinevents boss Sandro Heinemann in the Telekom Dome. They have provided their own booking portal at www.meine-covid-impfung.de. Biontech vaccines should be available next week and the dates will be released in the coming days, they state.

Many health professionals are now using all available channels to recruit people to receive the jabs. They search their employees' circle of acquaintances and also send out offers for vaccinations via Whatsapp groups. Several doses of the vaccine are often available in the evenings. “For example, when I go out to dinner with someone these days, I ask if they want a vaccination,” says one doctor. She wants to avoid having to throw away vaccine at all costs. The public’s preferences have not greatly changed, she says. Biontech and Moderna are gladly accepted. Astrazeneca is rather unpopular. “We could order as much of it as we want. But we are stopping that now, this vaccine is only used for the final second vaccinations,” she explains.

The doctor can only speculate about the reasons why people stay away. “But it seems that many have already received an earlier offer of vaccination elsewhere, for example through company doctors.” Here there is less effort involved for the patient. At the same time, many people probably do not realise the amount of work involved in vaccinations for a doctor's surgery, which is why the appointments are not cancelled. “This is certainly also due to the fact that - as with us - the appointments can often only be cancelled by e-mail because the telephone is constantly busy due to the vaccinations.” Another doctor in Bonn also estimates that now only those sections of the population are left who find it difficult to get a vaccination on their own due to their social status and level of education.

According to deputy city spokesperson Marc Hoffmann, only a few appointments at the Bonn vaccination centre are cancelled or not attended, and these are almost exclusively for second vaccinations. “People who received their first jab at the vaccination centre are now getting their second vaccinations at doctors’ practices,” he says. The unused vaccine doses are stored in the refrigerator or continue to be administered to people on the short-notice vaccination lists. “The order for the vaccine is triggered with a lead time of two days. If it is foreseeable that there is too much vaccine for the following day, less is then ordered and the vaccine remains in the national warehouse.”

(Original text: Nicolas Ottersbach, Translation: Caroline Kusch)