German family doctors seek bigger role in COVID vaccinations

German family doctors could vaccinate up to as many as 20 million people a month from April, Andreas Gassen, the head of the national doctors' body, told Die Welt newspaper on Wednesday.

His comments came ahead of a planned meeting between the German government and heads of states about when exactly family doctors can start administering coronavirus vaccines. They are expected to start in April.

Gassen, who presides over the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (NASHIP), said vaccinations in doctors' surgeries would be the "game changer."

He also said that all adults could be offered their first vaccine by the first half of June with the entire adult population fully vaccinated by August.

He raised criticism of the government for not including family doctors earlier but said that the rapid increase in vaccinations was reliant on a substantial increase in vaccine deliveries.

What the health minister said about the vaccine rollout

Germany's Health Minister Jens Spahn warned people not to have too high expectations for the development of the country's sluggish rollout.

"The number of vaccinations won't immediately jump to 20 million a month, let alone 10 million a week," he told public broadcaster ZDF.

"In April there will be substantially more vaccines, but not in that order of magnitude," he added.

He also agreed with Reinhardt that family doctors can take responsibility for who they vaccinate, saying: "The doctors know their patients and know who should receive the vaccine first."

When will Germans be fully vaccinated?

Chancellor Angela Merkel previously stated that she hoped all Germans will have been offered a vaccine by August or September. Gassen said this could be brought forward with the participation of family doctors.

Doctors who work directly for companies could also participate, the vice president of the Association of German Company and Works Doctors, Anette Wahl-Wachendorf, told the Funke media group on Wednesday.

There are some 12,000 in-company doctors in Germany and 80% of their medical checkups could be postponed, allowing them to administer up to 5 million vaccine doses a month.

Criticism of Germany's vaccine rollout

Germany has lagged behind countries like the UK and Israel with its vaccination program, having given at least one jab to just 5.35 million people so far, or just about 3% of the population.

The president of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, said that family doctors should be responsible for deciding who to first offer vaccines to, so as to avoid the need for more centralized decision making.

"Once we have enough vaccines for everyone, family doctors and specialists should also be allowed to decide for themselves on the vaccination priority," Reinhardt told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

"They know best which of their patients are particularly at risk," he added.

Reinhardt's comments were in line with the criticism from Gassen, that the "German desire to win the bureaucracy Oscars" had slowed down vaccination progress.

ab/rt (dpa, AFP, Reuters)