Narjiz

FYI for travel depending on country, a schnelltest printed off from one of those free sites it sufficient. No stamp, just PDF printed off. I tried it and it worked out. 

Ah sorry, it was the Frankfurt impfzentrum  

I apparently had the wrong one. My Hausarzt gave me the non WHO version of the impfpass and I didn't really notice. They simply gave me a new one at the impfzentrum. They have a stack of them. 

The paperwork was fine. My issue were the million checkpoints at the impfzentrum. I felt like I was going through security, then immigration then security and another security at an airport. It went smoothly and was highly organised, just felt weird. 

Public transport is expensive. If you look at the price of monthly tickets it is pricey. My workplace is around 20 km from my apt. A monthly card costs 160-170 euros per month. That isn't exactly cheap. I got longer shifts so that I work less days a week and get day tickets. Turns out to be cheaper for me. In the end it is cheaper than owning a vehicle. Price is supposed to increase this summer too. This is why the Gruene piss me off, they want to raise prices of gas and taxes for vehicles while also increasing costs of public transport. 

Just got an Email!!! Appt in early May!!! Is it weird that I am really excited? I must be losing it. 

Not surprised at all honestly, although I would love to see some repercussions as this goes against the rules/laws in place. As for the elderly... in my area 100s have not been showing up for appointments daily because they don't want Astra Zeneca. They don't even bother to cancel. That in itself is an issue. Would be great if they made some sort waiting-list.    My appt got cancelled because of some glitch in the system because of the whole astra issue. Have been waiting almost a month now for a new appointment after re-registering. 

I purchase coriander, parsley and mint leaves from the local Turkish or Moroccan market. The bunch is much bigger and better quality than REWE. I cook a lot with parsley and coriander so the measly amounts sold in REWE and Aldi are not sufficient. 

Holy 10 years! Is this some special treatment for Brits? I only got 3 when I came here as a Canadian... and I was thankful since I heard some were getting 6 months- 1 yr. 

There is big different between clots caused by the pill and the ones that may be caused by AZ vaccine. The pill mainly causes DVTs (deep vein thrombosis) and less often PE (pulmonary embolism). For the most part (there's exceptions of course) both have recognisable symptoms and are treatable with a relatively low mortality rate. What AZ vaccine may cause is a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, which has a much higher mortality rate. Mortality rate is lower with early treatment. However early diagnosis is also real hard. Additionally, the most common symptom is an acute headache. Headaches are common in the population, and chances are a young female will be brushed off by most doctors if she complains of a headache.   Here is an article explaining the difference in risk. https://www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de/antibabypille-versus-astra-zeneca-impfung-124522/   I think the mechanism of clotting is hypothesised to be different. With AZ it is thought to be more related to an immune reaction. But who knows if there is an additive risk with the pill. What about women taking hormone replacement therapy? So many unknowns...    My appointment was automatically cancelled as the Impfzentrum in my area just has AZ and nothing else. 

I agree 100%. I personally have gotten all vaccines as well. But something about this makes me real nervous. My academic brain tell me nah it is a real low risk of clots so I should go for it and the risk of long term complications from covid itself are higher. But my emotional non-rational side is scared shitless. Sadly because these vaccines have just not been out long and there is so many unknowns, it must suck to be in charge of any health authority right now. I did schedule an appointment though although I am guessing it may get cancelled. I am under 30 and female.   

Pharmacists aren't allowed to vaccinate in Germany. I was regularly giving out flu shots, and travel vaccines back in Canada. Here they started a dumb pilot project about 1.5 years ago but it seems not much came out of it due to resistance from physicians. Plus, most pharmacists here are simply not willing to inject people (even if training was offered). The other thing, injection administration is regulated by Heilpraktikergesetz. Pharmacy is regulated by the Apothekengesetz (and the bunch of Verordnungen that come under it. Currently, based on these laws, pharmacists are not allowed to inject drugs as it is considered Heilkunde and a pharmacist practicing that is a direct breach of that. So they need to change the Gesetz and we all know how long that takes... Sorry off topic, but thought maybe someone was interested in the why.    Heck even if the Hausaerzte gave them regularly we would see large increases, rather than the silly 20 per week.   

Update: Urkunde was picked up! Complete process took 10 months, which was much shorter than anticipated. Hope things work out for you and good luck. 

I do know that RP Darmstadt is one of the busiest in Germany plus they handle some of the most complex cases. I chalked the longer wait times to Brexit and the increased "home office". Although I agree, a monthly status update is a bit overkill, especially here. Would be nice if there was some sort of online portal showing status of application. Some day maybe...

  We just emailed once in January to see if things were received since the invoice didn't come and it had already been roughly 8 months (it came early February). Don't want to piss them off and we were already warned from the beginning it may take 2+ years. ًWhat we did do is collect updated documents to be ready in case they asked. We got a letter stating that the file is complete so hopefully things go well. In our case (well not me, just my partner since I haven't been here long enough), he exceeds the requirements. Language is C1, works in a field in high demand (works in German), and has been here more than 8 years, stable income and unbefritete vertrag. That may have something to do with it.    I didn't know they answered the phone to be honest.