Strong demand for flu and Covid vaccination service at the Oktoberfest

A vaccination service offered by the City of Munich at the Oktoberfest for the first time this year has seen demand far exceed expectations. In the first six days alone, 322 people were vaccinated against flu, Covid or both.

Vaccinations are available without an appointment at the Oktoberfest first aid station from 10am to 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays and from 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday. People only need to bring their vaccination record and health insurance card. The voluntary service follows the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) and is aimed at the general public, and in particular at people working at the Oktoberfest. It runs until 4 October.

The city's head of health, Beatrix Zurek, said: "After almost a week, we can draw a thoroughly positive conclusion for our vaccination service at the Wiesn. Our easily accessible service has been overwhelmingly well received." She said respiratory illnesses are often a nuisance for healthy people but pose a serious risk of severe illness and lasting harm for those in risk groups. She added that vaccination rates in vulnerable groups are far too low and that Germany lags well behind in European comparisons: while more than two thirds of people covered by STIKO recommendations are vaccinated in the Scandinavian countries, the figure in Germany is around a third for flu and less than a fifth for Covid. "We want to change that," she said.

The vaccinations are carried out on behalf of the city's health department by Dr Kampmann, chief physician of Aicher Ambulanz Union and a local GP, and his medical team. The vaccines are generally very well tolerated. Vaccinations are also available at doctors' surgeries and pharmacies in Munich.

The service is part of the city-wide campaign "München impft" (Munich vaccinates), which aims to prevent serious illness and complications such as heart attacks and strokes linked to acute respiratory infections, and to raise vaccination rates in line with STIKO recommendations. The campaign is under the patronage of Beatrix Zurek and is backed by the City of Munich and the city's two university hospitals, LMU Klinikum (Prof Dr Christian Schulz) and TUM Klinikum (Prof Dr Christoph D. Spinner). Residents, businesses and organisations are invited to share their own social media testimonials and support the campaign at www.muenchen-impft.de/mitmachen.