Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – The Saxony-Anhalt Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KVSA) has called for flu vaccinations. “Please do not underestimate the flu,” said KVSA CEO Jörg Böhme, according to a statement on Wednesday. In the past two years, the focus has been on containing the corona virus. “There were hygiene rules and contact restrictions. We were also able to keep the flu at a distance, there were no violent flu waves. But with the current easing, everything can be different,” emphasized Böhme.
A flu vaccination is particularly important for people over the age of 60, pregnant women, the chronically ill and people in facilities with heavy public traffic, according to the KVSA. For optimal protection against an illness or a severe course, it is important to be vaccinated against flu every year. Since the viruses are very versatile, the vaccine will be adapted to the virus variants currently circulating.
According to surveys by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), around 63 percent of people over 60 in Saxony-Anhalt were vaccinated against influenza during the past 2021/2022 flu season. According to the health insurance company, that was less than in the previous season, but still more than in any other federal state. Across Germany, the TK data for this age group showed a vaccination rate of 44 percent. TK insures more than 140,000 people in Saxony-Anhalt and around 11 million people throughout Germany.
