M.ore than seven out of ten people in Germany want to be vaccinated against corona. The older the people, the greater the willingness to vaccinate.
While only two thirds of 16 to 29 year olds in Germany are willing to do so, it rises to almost 80 percent among those over 65. This is the result of a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom among more than 1000 people in Germany aged 16 and over.
The willingness to vaccinate seems to be increasing in Germany. In the ARD “Deutschlandtrend” two weeks ago, almost 60 percent of those surveyed stated that they wanted to be vaccinated. In January the values were five percentage points lower.
Source: WORLD infographic
For most people in Germany, things cannot go fast enough. 85 percent warned that the vaccination should be faster and three quarters of those surveyed felt the organization of the corona vaccinations as chaotic.
Arranging a vaccination appointment for themselves or another person worked smoothly for only six percent of those surveyed. Another 43 percent tried but ran into problems or it didn’t work at all. Half of the respondents had not yet tried to make an appointment.
Of the people who had problems booking a vaccination appointment, almost 30 percent had to try more than 50 times, five percent even more than 100 times. More than a third have tried 25 to 50 times. Only 14 percent managed with fewer than 16 attempts.
“Every new phase of the corona pandemic exposes new digital deficits in Germany,” said Bitkom President Achim Berg. “We recently learned that most of the federal states are not really successful in organizing vaccination appointments.” The coronavirus could be combated digitally, said Berg.
The population agrees with digital solutions: three quarters of those surveyed would like a greater use of digital technologies in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Six out of ten people would like to have vaccination appointments via app or website. Only 28 percent advocated the telephone as the preferred way of booking.
Here, too, there are significant differences depending on age. Only 30 percent of people over 65 want to make an appointment online, but the proportion in this age group who prefer the telephone is almost 60 percent.
A digital vaccination certificate is also approved by the majority. Almost two thirds of those questioned would want to use it, above all to be able to quickly prove a vaccination and to automatically be reminded of refreshments.
A third reject the digital vaccination certificate, mainly for data protection reasons or because no smartphone or tablet is available.
Source: WORLD infographic
“We cannot prevent the spread of the coronavirus with faxes, pencils and overloaded telephone hotlines, but with data platforms, a nationwide uniform digital organization of vaccination appointments and a corona warning app, the potential of which is better exploited,” said Bitkom President Berg.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) decided last year that the digital vaccination certificate should come as part of the electronic patient record in the coming year. That takes too long for most Germans. Six out of ten argue that it should be introduced now.
Bitkom is calling for a temporary solution for the digital vaccination card, which should take into account that it is internationally compatible and that the data can later be transferred to the electronic patient record.
However, respondents are somewhat more cautious about the other advantages of a digital vaccination card. Only a third are in favor of vaccinated people being given back certain freedoms.
Source: WORLD infographic
Bitkom also supports the rapid introduction of the software “Sormas” for contact tracking, which, according to the plans, should be in use in all 376 health authorities by the end of February. According to a report by WELT AM SONNTAG, however, only a quarter of the authorities use the standardized technology.
Many of the health authorities haven’t even signed the necessary contracts to install the software. There are even doubts about the schedule at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, which developed the software called Sormas with funding from the Federal Ministry of Health.
Spahn advises on early vaccinations for teachers and educators
In most federal states, daycare centers and primary schools are reopening. Saxony and Lower Saxony had reopened their facilities earlier. Now many parents can breathe a sigh of relief elsewhere – after what feels like an eternity of care at home.
Source: WELT / Jana Wochnik
“Documenting infected people and their contact persons with self-made Excel lists or even hand-held notes ties up unnecessary resources and, above all, costs time – time that we do not have now shortly before a third wave of pandemics,” says Bitkom.
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