Officially, almost 80 percent of adults are vaccinated at least once. But when it comes to interpreting vaccination rate data, there is definitely room for maneuver. There are several reasons for this.
Berlin – The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) assumes more people vaccinated against corona than in the official statistics.
It can be assumed that up to 84 percent of adults in Germany have been vaccinated at least once and up to 80 percent have already received the second dose (as of October 5th), according to a current RKI report. The estimate is based on citizen surveys and registration data.
According to official vaccination quota statistics, almost 80 percent of people over the age of 18 have received a first dose, and a good 75 percent have already received the second.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) told the German Press Agency with reference to the RKI information that the vaccination campaign was even more successful than expected. “That gives us additional security for autumn and winter. With prudence and caution, we want to return step by step to freedom and normality. “
The vaccination rates achieved made it possible to forego certain corona rules outside – especially the wearing of medical protective masks. In interiors, access requirements for vaccinated, convalescent and tested people (3G) with the option for 2G only for vaccinated and convalescent people are still important – as is compliance with hygiene rules with distance and masks.
In the report, which was initially reported by the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe, the RKI explains that “the vaccination rate reported in the digital vaccination rate monitoring should be understood as a minimum vaccination rate and an underestimation of up to 5 percentage points for the proportion at least Once vaccinated or fully vaccinated can be accepted. ”To illustrate: five percentage points in the adult population roughly corresponds to 3.5 million people.
The background to this is that in surveys carried out by the RKI, significantly more people state that they have already been vaccinated than are recorded in the statistics. The RKI cites various explanations, including the fact that people who are not very ready to be vaccinated are underrepresented in the surveys.
In addition, the RKI states that people with poor knowledge of German cannot take part in the survey. “There is a presumption that language barriers also lead to a lower use of the COVID-19 vaccination.” In addition, certain vaccinations are not even recorded in the statistics.
As early as August, the RKI reported “a certain degree of uncertainty” in the interpretation of vaccination rate data. dpa
