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A 101-year-old woman became the first German to receive the coronavirus vaccine after one care home in the state of Saxony-Anhalt began inoculating its residents one day early.
The Krüger care home in Halberstadt administered the EU-approved BioNTech/Pfizer jab to 40 residents and 10 care workers on Saturday, the German news agency DPA reported.
The official start of vaccinations in Germany — and in most other EU countries — is on Sunday, the date designated as the bloc-wide rollout day by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Tobias Krüger, a nursing specialist and the care home’s operator, told DPA that the facility couldn’t wait. “Every day we wait is one day too many,” he said.
Krüger himself and his wife also got vaccinated. “My wife and I … are both trained nurses and wanted to set a good example,” he told tabloid Bild.
Public broadcaster MDR reported that staff at three clinics in the Harz district, where Halberstadt is located, also received the vaccine.
Saxony-Anhalt, one of 16 German federal states, received 9,750 doses of the vaccine on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s kick-off and immediately redistributed them to districts and cities, news agency RND reported.
Hungary on Saturday also started vaccinating its health care staff, going against the Commission’s plan, but besides the facilities in Harz no other German clinics or care homes have been reported to have jumped the gun. Health Minister Jens Spahn previously said the mass vaccination campaign would begin Sunday.
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