Cancel or postpone a corona vaccination appointment: dos and don’ts

Many people long for their vaccination date. However, it can happen that you are suddenly unable to keep the appointment. The only valid reason, however, is a sudden illness or infection. It is very important to cancel the appointment in any case if it cannot be kept.

Postpone or cancel an appointment for vaccination?

The vaccination dates are currently available from the vaccination centers and general practitioners or specialists. Those who have an appointment usually count themselves lucky. Except for the vaccine from  Johnson  & Johnson, which only has to be administered once, pairs of appointments are always given directly, which include the necessary distance between the two vaccination appointments. It makes sense to adhere to this, because only then can the best possible vaccination protection be achieved.

So if you cannot keep the first vaccination appointment, you will get two new appointments. A call to the vaccination center is enough, in most federal states the appointments can also be canceled or postponed online.

It is not a good idea to simply miss the vaccination appointment. Vaccination of people requires a lot of coordination and most Germans are still waiting for an appointment. In order not to waste the vaccine, the appointment should definitely be canceled: This way, another person has the chance to get the vaccine.

If you want to postpone the vaccination date, you have to expect to move back significantly in time, because the vaccination offer was made but rejected. In the spirit of solidarity, someone else will receive the vaccination.

Cancel an appointment: Dos & Don’ts

The vaccination appointment should only be canceled for one really important reason, namely an acute infection with  fever . Postponing the second appointment to an earlier appointment, which some people are currently trying to do because they are planning a vacation, is usually not possible or sensible.

The vaccination dates can be postponed online via the booking platform www.116117.de. The respective referral code, which was sent when the appointment was made, should be kept ready for this. You can also contact the Corona vaccination hotline 116117 by telephone. If you postpone or cancel the first appointment, you should remember that the second appointment must also be postponed.

Attention should be paid to:

• Be sure to cancel the appointment, don’t just let it pass
• Observe and comply with the vaccination interval between the two dates

According to the Bavarian Ministry of Health, more and more people are not coming to their second appointment because they have gone on vacation. It is therefore currently being discussed not to offer these people a new appointment. It is also not recommended to accept vaccination offers on vacation, as this can negatively affect the coordination of the second vaccination and the vaccination planning of the centers and medical practices. This is a big problem after returning home in relation to the second vaccination.

Here you can find out why it makes sense to keep the prescribed interval between the first and second vaccination.