Calls grow in Germany to punish vaccine queue jumpers

Calls are growing in Germany to punish people who jump the vaccine queue, after several cases in which officials allegedly squeezed to the front even as millions of others are waiting their turn

Virus Outbreak Germany (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Calls are growing in Germany to punish people who jump the vaccine queue, after several cases in which officials allegedly squeezed to the front even as millions of others are waiting their turn.

Public broadcaster NDR reported Wednesday that managers at clinics in northwestern Germany got their shots ahead of doctors and nurses.

NDR reported that fewer than 400 of the 2,500 staff at the hospitals in Aurich, Emden and Norden have so far been vaccinated, and those still waiting include some of the doctors and nurses working on wards treating intensive care and coronavirus patients.

The public trust operating the three clinics said the managers were given vaccines that risked being spoiled if unused, but didn't immediately explain why the doses weren't offered to frontline staff.

The incident follows the sudden departure of a senior Red Cross manager in Hamburg after criticism that he had obtained surplus vaccine days after the first shots were authorized for use in Germany late last year.

According to the German government's priority list, coronavirus vaccines were initially reserved for those aged over 80, people living or working in nursing homes and hospital staff treating particularly vulnerable patients. Managers and office workers are not on the list.

Germany’s Foundation for Patient Protection said it was aware of cases in which the priority list had been ignored and complained that there are no penalties for skipping the queue.

“If the health minister is serious about having a fair solution, then there need to be consequences for those who depart from it,” Eugen Brysch, the head of the foundation, told The Associated Press.

Brysch added that it would be best if vaccines were reserved for the very oldest and sickest in society until they have all received their shots.

Germany's vaccine rollout has been sluggish and plagued by technical difficulties. So far, about 2 million people in the country of 83 million have received their first shots, compared to about 10 million in Britain — which has a population of about 67 million.

___

Follow AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak