Ever since Germany began vaccinating its citizens on December 27, there’s been one question on most people’s minds: “When will it be my turn?” The next few months will certainly be an exercise in patience, but a new calculator can give you an estimate of how long you will be waiting.

The long wait for a coronavirus vaccine

The new year brought new hope. Vaccination programmes began across Germany and the rest of the world, finally representing a way out of the long months of lockdown. But the release was never going to be immediate. 

So long as vaccinations against COVID-19 are in short supply - and since the entire population can hardly be vaccinated all at once - everyone has had to form an orderly queue, according to the federal government’s priority list. 

As of January 20, nearly 1,3 million people in Germany have been vaccinated against coronavirus since the end of December. But with the rest of the population facing a potentially very long wait, many of us are asking ourselves, “When will it be my turn to get vaccinated?”

Vaccine calculator estimates when people in Germany will be offered vaccine

This was a question that was bugging Bogna Szyk, an engineer from the Technical University of Vienna. Together with her colleague Philip Maas, she created a coronavirus vaccination date calculator, which provides the user with an indication of when they are likely to receive their jab. The so-called Omni Calculator was originally developed for the UK, but the pair soon realised that the question was of interest to lots of other people, too. 

The calculator works by taking into account the Federal Ministry of Health’s vaccination priority list, Germany’s vaccination rollout rate, and the population’s estimated vaccine uptake rate. Users then enter their age, occupation and underlying health conditions, and the calculator provides a window within which their vaccination is expected to take place. Try it out below!

Corona-Impfterminrechner

Who gets vaccinated first in Germany?

Like many other countries, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Health has issued a vaccination ordinance, to make sure that those most in need of protection receive the coronavirus vaccine first. The population has been split into four different groups, ranging from the highest priority (only this group is currently being vaccinated) to those without priority, who will be the last to receive their jab. 

The groups are as follows: 

Group 1: Highest priority

The following population groups are currently eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine:

• Those aged over 80
• Those who are treated or cared for in inpatient nursing homes, and people who work in these settings
• Nursing staff in outpatient care services
• Healthcare workers with a high risk of exposure to COVID-19, especially those working in intensive care, emergency rooms, palliative care and coronavirus vaccination centres
• Healthcare workers who treat high-risk patients

If you belong to this group, you can already get a vaccination appointment in a vaccination centre or via a mobile vaccination team. For more details, contact the appropriate authority in your federal state. 

Group 2: High priority

This group includes:

• Those aged over 70
• Those with underlying health conditions that put them in the risk category, such as dementia or a similar condition, those recovering from a transplant, and those with Down Syndrome
• Close contacts of people aged over 80 or residents of nursing / care homes
• Close contacts of pregnant women
• Doctors and other healthcare workers who have a high or increased risk of exposure to coronavirus
• Police and law enforcement officers who are exposed to a high risk of infection while on duty
• Key workers in the public health service
• People who live or work in refugee or homeless facilities

Group 3: Increased priority

The final priority group contains:

• Those aged over 60
• People with underlying health conditions such as: diabetes, cancer, chronic kidney or liver conditions, HIV or other immune-deficiency conditions, heart conditions, asthma and clinical obesity
• Employees in medical facilities with a low risk of exposure (e.g. laboratories)
• Key workers in government, administration, constitutional bodies, the armed forces, the police, fire brigade and justice system
• Key workers in critical infrastructure companies, pharmacies and the pharmaceutical industry, power supply, water and waste disposal, the food industry, transport, information technology and telecommunications
• Teachers and other educators
• People with precarious working or living conditions

Group 4: Without priority

Everyone else will be vaccinated after everybody from the priority groups has been vaccinated.

Where can I get vaccinated? 

When your turn comes, you will most likely be vaccinated in one of the vaccination centres set up by the federal states. Doctors surgeries are not currently administering the vaccine, but this may begin to happen when enough vaccine doses become available. To find out how to book a coronavirus vaccination in your state, visit the federal government’s coronavirus vaccination information page (in German).