Vaccination helpline 116 117 is experiencing an immense influx of calls

In the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, criticism is growing over the process of vaccine appointment allocation in Germany.

Eugen Brysch, a board member of the Foundation for Patient Protection, has voiced his disapproval of the decisions made during the pandemic. He demands that reason and practice should be the driving forces behind these decisions, rather than politics. Brysch also called on politicians to stop insulting the dignity of the elderly.

Meanwhile, Otto Wulff, the chairman of the Senior Union, has suggested testing the appointment allocation via post to alleviate the strain on the system. This comes after it was revealed that only 4.9 million citizens were forwarded to the responsible states, with only 34 percent of calls (1.6 million) being accepted at the state level.

The highest daily influx of calls, 1.2 million, was recorded on January 12th, a day when new appointments were unlocked in Schleswig-Holstein and the appointment allocation started in Hesse. However, Adolf Bauer, the 80-year-old president of a social association, was unable to obtain an appointment both by phone and email.

The central nationwide vaccination hotline 116 117 received 6.8 million calls between January 1st and 20th regarding corona vaccinations. The statistics regarding these calls were based on data from the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (KBV).

It is unclear at this time how many calls to the vaccination hotline 116 117 between January 1st and January 20th have not yet been processed by the responsible federal states. No new states were mentioned as starting the appointment allocation in the current paragraph.

As the vaccination rollout continues, it is hoped that improvements will be made to ensure that all citizens, particularly the elderly, are able to access the vaccine in a timely and efficient manner.