“Vaccinating instead of golfing”: Laumann attracts criticism from doctors

Düsseldorf –

NRW Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann triggered a wave of outrage on Twitter. At a medical fair in Düsseldorf, he said aloud “Doctors’ newspaper”, General practitioners would have to vaccinate more from now on, and it applies “instead of golf course on Saturday vaccinate on Saturday.”

According to Laumann, around one million people in North Rhine-Westphalia have already received the booster vaccination – that is not enough for a long time, according to the minister. “We have a bow wave of 800,000 who are not vaccinated even though the last vaccination was six months ago,” he criticized. It is precisely for this reason that it is up to the general practitioners to enable the third vaccination as soon as possible.

Outrage on Twitter after Laumann’s statement

Decentralized structures would have to support the family doctor’s practices with the vaccination, added Laumann. Actions such as vaccination mobiles are necessary to ensure that there is sufficient vaccination available. He sees the statutory health insurance association as obliged to make doctors available to respond flexibly to local demand.

Laumann’s comment culminated on Twitter in the hashtag #impfenstattgole. Above all, doctors, but also private individuals, commented on the statement from indignant to horrified. You feel misunderstood and unnecessarily criticized, Laumann was accused of ignorance and some cynically offered him to swap jobs with them.

The practices in Cologne are mostly fully booked due to the booster vaccinations, and many have been open on Saturdays for a long time. General practitioners and staff report that they are overwhelmed and that there is hardly any space for patients who are not regular customers. The threat to vaccinating physicians and the targeted disruption of vaccination campaigns are also increasing. (red)

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