The Medical Association is sounding the alarm: flu vaccines for risk groups can no longer be ordered via the vaccination shop of Bundesbeschaffens GmbH (BBG). Only ten days after the order had started, the quota had already been exhausted. “This is unbearable,” said Johannes Steinhart, chairman of the Medical Association.
“After the shortcomings in last season’s flu vaccination campaign, we expected those responsible to learn from the mistakes,” Steinhart says disappointedly. The fact that doctors can no longer order vaccine for risk groups leaves “major doubts about whether it will be successful, even before the actual vaccination campaign begins.”
The president of the medical association calls on the Ministry of Health to get the “disaster” under control. “In the last vaccination season, there were 180 ordinations in Vienna without a vaccine, and this must not happen again,” Steinhart said.
Steinhart fears a lower vaccination rate
According to the chamber, many doctors also reported that ordering in the BBG store did not work technically. Many patients from risk groups would like to arrange a vaccination appointment during ordinations in the fall. “But they can’t because there is no vaccine. If this problem is not solved quickly, those who want to be vaccinated will turn away,” Steinhart fears. His organization indicated several times last season where the problems were. Now a high vaccination rate is already far away.
The coincidence of flu, Corona and RSV is delicate
This is especially important in this year’s flu season, as flu, corona and RSV come together and can lead to major problems, says Naghme Kamaleyan-Schmied, vice president and chairman of the board of general practitioners of the Vienna Medical Association.
The head of the chamber’s vaccination department calls on politicians to act quickly. “There is a huge discrepancy between the announcement in the major media of a free vaccination campaign and the ordered vaccine doses,” criticizes Rudolf Schmitzberger. It is not understandable why patients should be forced to buy the vaccine at their own expense, in view of a widely advertised free campaign.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
