Germany is likely to approve the first COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021. However, the country’s production capacity may not be sufficient to vaccinate everyone immediately. To address this issue, the Federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn, has tasked three committees with developing a distribution plan for the vaccines. The committees have now presented a joint guideline that could serve as the basis for a new law. The guideline emphasizes that the prioritization of vaccine distribution must be based on medical, ethical, and legal principles that are explained to the public in understandable terms. The decision to get vaccinated must also be voluntary and based on continuous education about the vaccine’s effectiveness and potential risks.
The guideline also calls for the creation of a system to monitor and evaluate vaccine side effects. To ensure that the prioritization of certain population groups is legally sound, the guideline suggests that evidence-based justifications for prioritization must be transparent. The vaccine will initially be administered only in mandated vaccination centers, such as health authorities or similar government institutions, due to the expected low availability. The goal of the vaccine distribution guideline is to prevent deaths and severe COVID-19 cases. However, prioritization will not be based solely on age or cognitive impairments. The first group to be vaccinated will be residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, as well as people with pre-existing conditions that put them at a significantly higher risk of severe or fatal COVID-19 outcomes. The second group will include healthcare workers and employees of nursing homes, as well as government officials, police officers, teachers, and other essential workers who may come into contact with infected individuals.
In the coming weeks, the committees will present a matrix that hierarchically orders the defined groups based on scientific data. To create acceptance for the vaccination plan among the population, an information campaign will be launched soon that takes into account different educational levels and communication difficulties. The joint guideline provides a clear and transparent framework for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Germany, ensuring that the most vulnerable groups receive priority access.
