Germany: automobile firms prepare to administer vaccines

The stricter lockdown measures that came into force in Germany on 11 January 2021 have little effect on companies. This has led to a heated debate on the issue of increased teleworking measures and the need for – or danger of – bringing economic activity to a sharper halt. There is, however, one aspect that has been the subject of limited discussion, but which appears set to become of greater importance: vaccination at company premises. As part of the efforts to step up the nationwide vaccination campaign, the recent national strategy clearly identifies large companies as a possible and practical venue for the administering of the various vaccines already in circulation as well as those to be introduced in the future. Of course, companies have no right to require their employees to be vaccinated. However, they usually have experience in the prevention of infectious diseases. As a spokesperson for automotive manufacturer Daimler told trade magazine Automobilwoche: “We already have many years of experience with extensive vaccination campaigns and can quickly make our health care facilities available.” BMW, Audi and the automotive supplier ZF have also announced that their health care teams will be available for vaccination operations “as soon as there are enough vaccines for everyone”, according to a BMW executive. At the Opel site in Kaiserslauten, the company and municipal authorities have chosen to set up the town’s main vaccination at the factory site. The centre has been open since last week. Volkswagen is preparing a centre in conjunction with the city of Wolsfburg based on this model. It will be set up on the site of its main plant. VW has also offered to carry out identical operations at other sites. In any case, this will in no way entail preferential or early treatment of the employees of these firms. People will be prioritised in line with the guidelines set by the government for the whole population.