1500 people were vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine in the mobile vaccination truck last week. Despite the high number of 500 people per day, there were no queues. "We tried to plan all the procedures to save as much time as possible," says operations manager Thomas Fehlmann. He works for Docs, an event medical service that provides medical care for festival-goers at big festivals like Gurten or Greenfield.

Positive feedback
All the vaccination slots were booked. Those in charge at the municipality, the vaccination truck and those willing to be vaccinated are pleased with how the three days went. "We draw a positive balance," says the president of the municipality Toni von Grünigen. "The great demand showed how important the offer was for the Saanenland." Fehlmann also considers the outreach in Saanen a positive experience. "The people who came for the jab were very grateful that the rural population was not forgotten." The response of those who wanted to be vaccinated was positive throughout. Many were surprised by the smooth process and the friendly staff, as a non-representative survey showed.

One resident, however, verbally attacked the crew and the people present. According to von Grünigen, the situation could be arbitrated. Fehlmann says: "Such incidents are not a problem. Nothing was damaged. There are always supporters and opponents of something. We live in a democracy. Different opinions can be expressed, that's good."

On to Huttwil
The vaccination truck went straight to Huttwil last Wednesday evening, where it was on duty on Thursday. "Normally, we change locations every day – with a day of rest on Wednesday. However, in Saanen, we stayed for three days because the demand was so high," explains Fehlmann.

Doctors and nurses on duty are either retired, have time off between job changes or are not working 100 per cent. "We hire professionals who want to pursue an interesting occupation in addition to their regular work." Above all, he said, they don't want to take professionals away from the hospitals. That is why the pool of workers is large, and the change of crew in the vaccination truck is relatively frequent. The vaccination truck is in operation for two months—one month for the first vaccination and one month for the second vaccination.

Based on AvS/Blanca Burri