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 Mario Czaja, head of the Berlin Red Cross, said 5%-10% of people
were skipping appointments at the city's vaccination centres - with
second doses particularly affected - up from a no-show rate of less
than 0.5% at the start of the year.
With around 15,000 vaccinations planned per day at the centres, the
number of wasted appointments is having a "massive effect on
Berlin's vaccination coverage", Czaja told Deutschlandfunk radio on
Monday.
"We need the free slots. We are still not out of the woods and we
can't afford to be negligent," he said, urging people to cancel
their appointments if they managed to get a second dose earlier
elsewhere.
Despite the missed appointments, Czaja said the centres have not had
to discard vaccines as, once thawed, they can be stored for three to
four days in fridges.
People might be skipping second shots because they have been
vaccinated by their family or company doctor, or may be on holiday,
Christian Fuellers, medical director of a vaccination centre in
North Rhine-Westphalia, told ARD television.
Young men in particular also appear to think getting one dose will
be sufficient, he added.
Whatever the reasons, no-shows pose a headache to Germany's plan to
speed up vaccinations to try and get ahead of the more contagious
Delta variant, now responsible for half of German coronavirus cases
and expected to dominate later this month.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Germany to achieve a
vaccination rate of 80%, a participant in a meeting of her party's
executive committee told Reuters.
Around 39% of Germans have now received the recommended two shots,
while 56.5% has had at least one dose.
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 Germany, Europe's most populous
country and largest economy, is expected to
receive a bumper delivery of 7.65 million doses
this week, according to Health Ministry data, of
which 4.95 million are destined for its
vaccination centres.
But the seven-day daily average of administered
shots slumped last week to 701,998 per day, down
almost 18% on the daily average seen in the
second week of June. Czaja has
suggested that a fine of between 25-30 euros ($30-36) be levied on
those who miss appointments. But others have warned that such action
could be counterproductive.
"Instead of thinking about penalties, we should think about what we
can do to keep vaccinations up," Reinhard Sager, president of the
German Association of Districts, told Die Welt.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday penalties
for vaccination no-shows were not envisaged.
Elsewhere, countries from the United States to Russia have
introduced incentives, such as cash or the opportunity to win a car
or an apartment, to try to boost vaccine take-up. Some Russian
regions have also introduced compulsory vaccination for some
workers.
($1 = 0.8424 euros)
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Additional reporting by Andreas Rinke)
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