Pamina Füting used to be in the mountains a lot. In her Munich apartment, she shows pictures from back then – of hiking, climbing, skiing, ski tours. All of this is now impossible for the 30-year-old. She was vaccinated against the corona virus three times. After the first and second vaccination, Füting felt side effects, but they went away. Since the third vaccination over a year and a half ago, she has been struggling with the so-called post-vac syndrome.
Post-Vac: This is the technical term for long-term symptoms after the corona vaccination. “On a good day I can walk slowly for 20 minutes,” says Füting, “but I’ve gotten really good at it. At the beginning I managed 20 meters.” Walking, shopping, housework: Füting describes the most everyday things as incredibly exhausting. She gets exhausted quickly, gets headaches and muscle aches, and is out of action for days. Almost a year ago, Füting spoke to the BR political magazine Kontrovers about her situation. It’s gotten a little better since then. “But I don’t think I’ll be really resilient anytime soon,” says Füting.
Over 29 million doses of vaccine against the corona virus were administered in Bavaria – in the vast majority of cases they had the desired effect. But there are a few of them: the long-term consequences of a corona vaccination. What has not yet been provided are sufficient offers of help for those affected, such as Pamina Füting.
New hotline for those affected – Füting: “A zero number”
The telephone hotline that the Bavarian Ministry of Health set up for post-vac syndrome at the beginning of April shows how great the need is – only around a third of the calls could be answered on the first day. “We have now increased the staff,” says Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). “We notice that there is a psychological strain there.” The telephone consultation is about information about Post-Vac and referral to other agencies. “We want the existing outpatient clinics, which are there for long and post-Covid, to also address the issue of post-vac,” says Holetschek. However, those affected report that they are often turned away directly at these outpatient clinics. Or they are examined, but don’t get any real help due to a lack of expertise, that’s what happened to Pamina Füting. Even with various general practitioners and specialists, she did not get any further.
The hotline cannot “give any differentiated medical information, but is intended to be a bit of a guide,” says Holetschek. Pamina Füting is not enough, she has already called the number, there were no new offers of help for her: “Honestly, I feel fooled. I’ve had it for a year and a half and now there is a hotline that doesn’t help you can. Unfortunately, that’s a zero number for us.”
SPD: Need specialized post-vac contact point in Bavaria
There is also criticism from the Bavarian opposition: “Telling people again via a hotline that they should contact these ambulances, which they then don’t use in the end – that doesn’t help,” says SPD health politician Ruth Waldman. “There they are in a telephone loop à la Buchbinder Wanninger.” According to Waldmann, what would really help would be a specialized contact point for post-vac in Bavaria – either with more money and staff for the existing outpatient clinics or in the form of a post-vac outpatient clinic. There is only one of these in Germany, in Marburg in Hesse. However, this was “hopelessly overcrowded”, according to Waldmann.
Pamina Füting called the ambulance in Marburg for the first time about a year ago: “I haven’t received any feedback since then. I’m obviously still on the waiting list.” Füting is not alone in this: the list of those affected who are waiting for an appointment in Marburg currently includes more than 6,000 people.
Health Minister Holetschek is not currently planning his own post-vac ambulance in Bavaria. Instead, the existing long and post-Covid outpatient clinics are to be expanded so that they can accommodate more patients, including for post-vac. We’re talking about that. “I hope that we will find the willingness there very quickly,” said Holetschek. Apart from that, more research needs to be done on the post-vac syndrome: “We have asked the federal government to increase the funds.”
Vaccination damage recognized in around 10 percent of all processed applications
Up to the past few weeks, the “Bavarian Family and Social Center” (ZBFS) has received almost 1,800 applications for recognition of vaccination damage. The ZBFS is part of the Bavarian Ministry of Family Affairs and, according to its own information, has processed around half of the applications so far – and around ten percent of them have been accepted.
In Bavaria there are 84 cases so far. For comparison: For all other vaccinations apart from the corona virus, only 150 applications have been made since the beginning of 2021 because of potential vaccine damage. There is no information on recognition quotas for the years 2021 and 2022. Of the nine applications made this year, none have been approved so far.
