Vaccination centre to start operation on 11 January

Vaccination centre to start operation on 11 January
Spinnerei in Baar has been converted

The canton of Zug started mobile vaccinations in age-care institutions on the 23rd December. People who are more than 75 years of age can be vaccinated on the site of the old Spinnerei (spinning mill) in Baar, from Monday, 11th January. They must register in advance via the Internet.

The health department of the Canton of Zug wrote of a "milestone in the endeavour to bring the pandemic under control" in its two-page media release yesterday afternoon. In which it announced: "On Monday, 11th January 2021, the vaccination centre on the old Spinnerei (spinning mill) area in Baar will officially go into operation." From then on, people over 75 years of age can be vaccinated against the corona virus in the "Gewerbepark an der Lorze", at Haldenstrasse 1. For the moment, that is. Younger adults at the highest risk due to chronic diseases will be able to receive vaccinations as soon as the Canton of Zug has enough available. Up to the end of January, they will have to make do with 6,000 doses.

Because the number of doses available will dictate the pace, the broader population will have to be “patient”, writes the department, which is headed by Health Director Martin Pfister, who adds: "I ask for your understanding that we must first vaccinate the most endangered members of the population in the canton of Zug." He can, however, guarantee that everyone who wants to be vaccinated and who is allowed to be vaccinated will receive the vaccine in 2021. The communicated procedure corresponds to the federal vaccination strategy, according to which particularly vulnerable people should first receive protection against the virus.

On reading this, there is a clear impression that the Zug authorities want to create clarity and to calm down the situation as much as possible, especially as there has lately been uncertainty and criticism of the federal vaccination program. An example of this is the fact that the federal government has ordered almost half of the 15.8 million vaccine doses it had reserved from the manufacturer Moderna – although this preparation has not yet been approved, as the “NZZ am Sonntag” reported.

Residents of a retirement centre were vaccinated against the corona virus for the first time on 23rd December.
Photo: PD/Health Directorate Zug

Internet portal will only run from 11th January
If you want to make an appointment at the Baar vaccination centre, you have to register in advance on www.corona-impfung-zug.ch.  This is not yet possible at the moment, however. "A new Internet presence is being created here," could be read on the Zug Corona page yesterday afternoon. The online tool that the federal government purchased for CHF 950,000 and made available to the cantons is not yet ready. According to the Zug Health Directorate, the platform will operate from 11th January – the same day as the vaccination centre opens. The canton also writes: "If necessary, the call centre of the vaccination centre will provide assistance with registrations from 11th January." In addition to the registration form, the platform will continue to provide information on the Covid 19 vaccination program, and will be regularly updated.

A mobile team has been travelling throughout the canton of Zug since 23rd December, inoculating the residents of old-age and nursing homes. Only a few weeks ago, the canton of Zug announced that it would start vaccinations of people outside retirement homes in the first calendar week of this year, i.e. from yesterday. When asked why this delay had occurred, the Department of Health stated that “the construction of the vaccination centre, the registration facilities and the operation are complex factors". The health department had quickly "established and finalised the necessary structures as a high priority over the festive season, after initially expecting a much later date for the start of the vaccinations."