Ein a few champagne bottles in a showcase in the Frankfurt Festhalle are a reminder of better times. On this Tuesday morning the big vaccination started here too. “It’s nicer than vacation,” says Gerda Meisenzähl and laughs. The eighty-one year old has just had her first vaccination. She spent two hours in the vaccination center – not a short trip. Another lady pulls out her cell phone at the exit. The stopwatch shows one hour and 44 minutes on its screen. But that doesn’t bother very much this morning. The relief prevails. The puncture did not hurt, the employees were friendly, the waiting time on the first day was completely understandable, many report when they left the vaccination center.
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Thorsten Winter
Business editor and internet coordinator in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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The seniors seem to have planned a little more time and patience anyway, after the registration for the vaccination was already bumpy. So does Astrid Rosselmann. She spent five hours on the phone and tried in vain to get a vaccination appointment via the service hotline. After all, her son had success with the booking system on the Internet, says the 90-year-old from Frankfurt. “Nobody over 70 can do that, many don’t have a computer at all.” Even if everything did not go smoothly on the first day the vaccination center opened, she is satisfied that she can finally get the first dose of corona vaccine. “I not only protect myself, but also my environment,” says Rosselmann.
500 vaccinations on the first day in Frankfurt
Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) also came to the festival hall when the vaccination began. “The elderly in particular avoid contact because they are afraid of being infected. I am pleased that the vaccination is now giving these people back an important piece of quality of life, ”he said. There were 500 vaccinations in Frankfurt on the first day, and the number is to be doubled on Wednesday. According to the plan, 11,725 very old people will receive a vaccination in the festival hall by the end of January. On the first day, five vaccination lines or 17 of 43 vaccination booths were in operation. The Frankfurt vaccination center is designed for 4,000 vaccinations per day.
But it will take a while before all vaccination routes are occupied. Initially, appointments could only be made for around 60,000 people eligible for vaccination in the six regional vaccination centers in Frankfurt, Kassel, Fulda, Gießen, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt. The cause lies in the limited amount of vaccination doses that Hessen receives from the federal government. “Our plans envisage the opening of the other 22 vaccination centers in Hesse on February 9, so that even more people can finally get the important vaccination there. We are in contact with the federal government in order to quickly obtain clarity about the next vaccine deliveries. Only if more vaccine comes reliably and steadily can we make binding appointments in the vaccination centers, ”said Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU).
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