COVID crown back to square one
In some states, the vaccination did not go smoothly due to lack of a central vaccine registration and management system. Also, a large proportion of the German population is reported to be against the vaccination approach, not only COVID-19 vaccine but against any sort of vaccines. About 40 per cent of the people are said to be unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign started in Germany on December 26, with the inoculation of a 101-year-old woman with a BioNTech/Pfizer Jabin Halberstadt, a town in Saxony-Anhalt state. Sticking to a no-show off German culture, the occasion was marked by a modest ceremony within the premises of a senior care home. The event, however, conveyed a strong message - the commencement of an offensive strategy against the worst pandemic of our time.
Taking a leaf out of its crisis response during the first phase of the pandemic, Germany was expected to lead from the front in the vaccination stage as well.
During the pre-vaccination period, positive cases of COVID-19 were contained to as minimum as possible, and the mortality rate was the lowest compared to Italy, Spain and the UK.
The German approach to COVID-19 management, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, was lauded globally.
This was possible due to the high frequency of tests, abrupt increment in intensive care beds with respiratory support, and higher proportion of younger affected population. However, the second wave of COVID-19, with more infectious British mutation over the winter, proved to be more detrimental to Germany. A countrywide lock-down imposed on November 2 is still on, with even more strict restrictions.
The vaccination phase was not a dream start for Germany. As a member of the European Union (EU), Germany was obliged to abide by its pronouncements.
At the outset, the EU was reluctant in ordering a large quantity of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines due to its high price and special storage requirements at minus 70°C. The EU decided to purchase only 200 million doses of the vaccine in the beginning. That would have been sufficient for only 22 per cent of the total population of the EU.
Germany tried to convince other members of the EU in purchasing extra doses of the vaccine, but the efforts went in vain. The critics were of the opinion that Germany should have pushed harder in convincing the EU for a bigger purchase of the vaccines. Instead, many member countries preferred the cheaper AstraZeneca vaccine with a convenient storage temperature of minus 4°C. This move, however, turned out to be counterproductive.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) well before the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The initial domestic distribution chaos was the second reason that dampened the vaccination campaign.
At the beginning, the vaccines were transported in an unusual manner in camping refrigerators in some states. This led to wastage of a large amount of vaccines due to temperature fluctuation.
In some states, the vaccination did not go smoothly due to lack of a central vaccine registration and management system. This bureaucratic lapse was criticised by eminent members of the parliament, some even belonging to the ruling centre-right coalition led by Merkel. In addition, a large proportion of the German population is reported to be against the vaccination approach, not only COVID-19 vaccine but against any sort of vaccines.
Recent studies have shown that about 40 per cent of the people are unwilling to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Due to all these hurdles, Germany could administer only 6.2 million initial vaccine dosesby the end of February, a combined jab of Pfizer/BioNTech, Astra- Zeneca and Moderna. This covered only about 8 per cent of the total German population. Ironically, about 2.3 million doses of vaccines went unused in Germany.
At the same time, the USA had vaccinated an astounding 75.2 million people (30%) and the UK a total of 21 million people (22%).
The global front-runner was, however, Israel, with almost 88 per cent of its population vaccinated by the end of February.
The pace of vaccination seems to be picking up of late in Germany. The inoculation capacity of the vaccination centre set up at the recently shifted Tegel Airport in Berlin has now increased to more than 1,000 doses per day from just less than 400 daily jabs in mid-February. Reports show that most of the vaccination centres are now operating at almost full capacity throughout Germany.
However, experts fear possible vaccine congestion in some weeks due to insufficient infrastructure and lack of adequate skilled manpower at the vaccination centers. The federal as well as regional governments need to work swiftly in this aspect to assure smooth administration of the vaccine.
The faltered vaccination campaign in Germany shows that even trivial mismanagement can lead to grave consequences.
Famed for its orderliness, organisation, exactness and punctuality, Germany had fared exceptionally well in the first phase of the pre-vaccination epoch.
Hence, till early June 2020, Germany was rated the safest and most stable country in Europe and the second safest in the world by the London-based Deep Knowledge Group (DKG).
This COVID-19 crown was short lived for Germany as the COVID-19 management ranking conducted by Lowry Institute currently puts Germany at an unimpressive 55thposition globally and 15thin Europe with a below-par COVID Performance Index (CPI) of 45.8; New Zealand leads the ranking with a staggering CPI of 94.4. To compare, Nepal is currently at 70th place globally (CPI: 36.6) and 4th among SAARC countries.
The recent hiccup in management of COVID-19 is a rare let-down in otherwise textbook perfection and high level of German competence. Therefore, one can expect Germany to bounce back anytime to reclaim the COVID crown under the calm leadership of the 'crisis chancellor', Merkel.
Joshi is senior scientist and assistant professor of Neurobiology at Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
A version of this article appears in the print on March 17, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
