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By Caroline Copley
BERLIN, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Berlin is racing to open six mass
vaccination centres capable of handling up to 4,000 people per
day by mid-December, the project coordinator told Reuters on
Thursday, as the city waits for authorities to approve the first
vaccines.
An empty trade fair hall, two airport terminals, a concert
arena, a velodrome and an ice rink will be turned into six
vaccination centres where it plans to administer up to 900,000
shots against the coronavirus in the first three months.
Albrecht Broemme said plans envisage 3,000 to 4,000 people
per day being ferried through each centre in the same way as
shoppers are guided through IKEA stores in one direction.
"The biggest challenge will be succeeding in getting the
right people at the right time at the right vaccination centre,"
Broemme said on the sidelines of a fire drill at the city's
makeshift COVID-19 hospital in a trade fair hall.
Germany appears to be the furthest ahead of European nations
in its planning for the daunting logistical and administrative
challenge that could be just a few weeks away if the first
vaccines gain approval.
Europe's drug watchdog expects to receive the first
application for conditional marketing approval for a COVID-19
vaccine "in the coming days", it said on Thursday, the latest
step towards making a shot available outside the United States.
Broemme said Berlin is working on the assumption that around
80% of its doses in the first instance will come from Pfizer
/BioNTech with the remaining 20% of the doses
from AstraZeneca.
Health Minister Jens Spahn said Germany has secured around
300 million vaccine doses. Other German states have said
vaccination centres will be ready from mid-December and mobile
teams will inoculate the most vulnerable.
Elsewhere in Europe, preparations appear mixed.
In Spain, the government aims to vaccinate a substantial
part of its population in the first half of 2021 and has opted
to use trucks rather than centres to distribute the shots.
Italy expects to have vaccinated most Italians by next
September and is due to set out detailed plans on Dec. 2. France
has said it could start administering shots as soon as the end
of the year and will unveil its strategy next week.
Britain plans to roll out vaccines using a mixture of
centres and doctors' practices and is aiming to have enough
shots to have some sort of normality after Easter.
In contrast, Hungary and Bulgaria are not expecting to
receive their first shipments until Spring.
Berlin's vaccination centres will be open seven days a week
and on public holidays from 0900 to 1900, Broemme said, with the
aim of completing the first phase within three months. After
that people will get shots at doctors' practices and pharmacies.
Those aged over 75 and healthcare workers are expected to be
first-in-line, the city's health senator said last week.
One challenge will be finding enough staff to operate the
centres, which will need medical professionals, stewards and
security guards. EasyJet has offered some of its
first-aid trained staff, a spokesman said.
Broemme expects each person to spend around one hour in the
centre. People will be monitored for side effects for around 30
minutes after receiving a shot amid strict social-distancing and
hygiene standards.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley
Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Sarah Young in
London, Emilio Paradi in Milan, Emma Pinedo Gonzalez in Madrid,
Matthias Blamont in Paris, Krisztina Than in Budapest, Tsvetelia
Tsolova in Sofia)
