Thanks to vaccination campaign: Schmalz achieves "operational herd immunity

"We managed this tour de force brilliantly," says Dr. Kurt Schmalz, managing partner of J. Schmalz GmbH. "A relaxed and easy-going atmosphere as well as more than 500 vaccinations completely without incident - this balance is just great." On average, company physician Andreas Kreidler and his team administered a dose of BioNTech's vaccine every three minutes. To make this stroke rate possible, an entire office level of the family-owned company was converted into a highly functional vaccination line - including registration, an educational talk and a quiet room for follow-up observation. "We made sure there was no wait time and that AHA rules were followed at all times," Dr. Schmalz says. "Our Corona crisis staff did a super job."

In addition to the employees who have already been vaccinated, there will be a catch-up appointment before Whitsun for those who were unable to attend the first phase or who are simply short-tempered. The second vaccination will then take place in around six weeks - again on the company's internal vaccination line in Glatten. And the vaccination campaign is receiving great reception. "We expect around 550 employees to have been vaccinated at the end of the project," says Dr. Schmalz.

In addition, there are those who have already been vaccinated by other means. Overall, the company calculates that around three quarters of its staff will be fully vaccinated by the beginning of July. "Virologists speak of herd immunity from a vaccination rate of around 70 percent. Perhaps this social calculation model cannot be transferred one-to-one to an operation," admits Dr. Schmalz, "but the Schmalz company will be herd immune, so to speak, from the beginning of July!"

The voluntary vaccinations were made possible by the pilot project "Vaccination in SMEs" by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK). Schmalz was one of only twelve companies in the state to be selected. The main objective was to gain knowledge for the nationwide company vaccination program, which is scheduled to begin nationwide in June. "We have succeeded in this by all means," says Dr. Schmalz. "We will be very happy to pass on the experience we have gained so that vaccination can also run as smoothly in many other operations." The managing partner sends a special greeting to Stuttgart: "Many thanks to the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs! We are very happy to be part of this pilot project."