gms | German Medical Science

Background and status of (inter)national research: Ensuring an efficient and extensive vaccination campaign for the whole population has been seen as a core pillar in addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic. In Germany, physicians in vaccination centers and subsequently in ambulatory health services initially built the main pillars of the vaccination campaign. In Baden-Württemberg, in-company vaccinations by occupational health physicians were considered as a potential third pillar in the campaign. 15 companies that belonged to critical infrastructure were chosen to implement and evaluate in-company COVID-19 vaccination. Our study was part of the evaluation of the program.

Research question and objective: Which experiences do experts from crisis management teams report about organizing the in-company vaccination campaign in their companies?

Method or hypothesis: We conducted qualitative interviews with 7 employees involved in the crisis management and organization of the vaccination campaign in 4 different companies in Baden-Württemberg. We are currently analyzing the data with qualitative content analysis to identify main topics and subtopics in the data.

Results: We conducted the interviews when the in-company vaccination campaign had already taken place. This allows us to gather experiences that comprise the process as a whole. We will present the different stages of the process: getting access to the program, planning the in-company vaccination campaign, prioritizing employees against the background of limited vaccine availability, setting up the infrastructure and eventually rolling out the in-company campaign. Our preliminary results show that organizing the in-company vaccination campaign not only required a considerable number of resources and came along with practical challenges but also took great effort to maintain organizational justice among employees.

Discussion: The experts expressed satisfaction with the overall organization of the in-company vaccination campaign and showed pride in the achieved vaccination rates that were above the average of the German population.

Practical implications: In-company COVID-19 vaccinations were a means for companies to address the pandemic and to provide employees with additional protection through a quick an easy access to vaccinations.

Appeal for practice (science and/or care) in one sentence: With regards to organizing in-company COVID-19 vaccinations, our study gives detailed insights into the processes ‘behind the scenes’.

Funding: Sonstige Förderung