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Forgotten epidemics (5): syringes instead of vodka and raspberry tea – mandatory vaccinations in the GDR
Erfurt.
In the GDR there were 17 compulsory vaccinations, the vaccination system was organized centrally. It is doubtful that this approach has an impact on Corona today as well.
A look at a vaccination card from the times of the GDR.
Photo: Jan Woitas
There were hardly any vaccinations in the Federal Republic of Germany, even during the pandemics of the 1950s and 1960s. Experts debated whether vaccinations had any effect on mortality. According to the Berlin medical historian Winfried Witte, the federal constitution tended to hinder coordinated crisis management. On the contrary, the vaccination system in the GDR was organized centrally. The Berlin-Schöneweide vaccine plant had been producing influenza vaccines since 1948, but capabilities were limited. Therefore, initially only a few groups of people were vaccinated. In Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, according to a document that has been handed down to us, sulfonamides and vitamin C were given for therapy; there was no talk of vaccination.
The situation changed in the 1960s. Malte Thießen, a vaccination researcher at the Westphalian Institute for Regional History, describes vaccination in East Germany as an expression of state welfare. In the 1960s, many vaccinations were made mandatory. Measles vaccinations were added after the 1969 Hong Kong flu. Ultimately, East German vaccination calendars would set a tide of deadlines for up to 17 mandatory vaccinations that citizens had to adhere to until the age of 18. years. Last but not least, one of the reasons for mandatory vaccination was the fight against vaccine refusals and the “unrepentant” that existed in the GDR.
Encouraged by the Soviet elder brother, passive immunization with human gamma globulin, i.e. antibodies, is already in use. During a visit by East German flu fighters to the Soviet Union, a Russian official said that “after vodka and raspberry tea, this is the most effective flu therapeutic agent,” quotes Witte. . After all, there were a million doses of vaccine ready for the 1973/74 British flu.
In view of the smaller number of crowns to the east, it is debated whether mandatory vaccination against tuberculosis is still immunizing against the coronavirus today. From the perspective of Jena infectologist Mathias Pletz, there is no evidence for this. BCG vaccine against tuberculosis had been administered for a longer period in the GDR and studies in Africa had shown that infections were less common because the immune system was stimulated in a non-specific way. However, the vaccine was also discontinued in the east 40 years ago – and it is therefore difficult to explain how it should have an effect to date.
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