When administering the new vaccines adapted to Omikron, the federal states want to rely primarily on established doctors and vaccination centers - but they do not expect a large rush.

This emerges from a survey by the German Press Agency among the countries. Vaccinations in pharmacies, on the other hand, are unlikely to play a role.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had given the green light to the two vaccines from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna, which are adapted to the BA.1 subtype of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The EU Commission approved the vaccine on Friday. Although BA.1 no longer plays a role in Germany, experts assume that the new vaccines also have an advantage against the currently dominant BA.5 subtype. However, there is still no vaccination recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko).

Around 14 million doses of the BA.1 preparation from Biontech/Pfizer and Moderna are to come in the two weeks starting Monday. How the vaccine gets into the arms of the people is organized by the federal states and the municipalities. The strategies differ in detail.

There are still central vaccination centers in Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony and Bremen. The most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia relies more on medical practices. The federal state has the resources to “carry out at least 250,000 vaccinations a week within 14 days – in addition to what is offered in medical practices and company doctors,” said the Ministry of Social Affairs. In Hamburg, Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, too, the corona vaccines are primarily vaccinated via medical practices. Others rely heavily on mobile vaccination teams.