Sortimo establishes vaccination centre for employees

Sortimo International GmbH is now able to vaccinate the first part of its staff after company doctors have been authorised to administer the Corona vaccination to employees since 7th June. Employees of Sortimo were offered the opportunity to be vaccinated against the corona virus SARS-COV-2 by the company doctor.

With the end of prioritisation and the possibility to include company doctors nationwide in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign as of 07 June, Sortimo International GmbH has now also been able to offer its employees a vaccination against the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus.  

The company has been working for weeks to obtain the vaccine for its employees as well as taking all necessary measures, such as setting up the hygiene concept for a suitable vaccination centre in its own buildings. Sortimo feels it has a social responsibility to contribute to the fastest and most comprehensive vaccination against the SARS-COV-2 virus and as an employer it also wants to offer its employees the greatest possible protection. Despite strict adherence to the prescribed internal protective measures, there is of course always a risk of infection. Although there have been no chains of infection at Sortimo so far, the medium-sized company wants to take precautions and not only prevent production downtimes, but also do something good for its employees.

Who will be vaccinated

The vaccination will start on Friday, 11 June, with around 70 doses of the mRNA vaccine from the manufacturer BioNTech/Pfizer. The company has not received more vaccine doses for this first date. "Nevertheless, we are pleased to finally be able to make our employees an offer of vaccination. With 70 doses there is still room for improvement, but it is definitely a positive step in the right direction", says HR manager Wolfgang Holzmüller.  

Sortimo employs around 1,400 people worldwide, 900 of whom will be offered a vaccination at the Sortimo Group's Zusmarshausen site. 

In the first step, employees from the commercial sector are vaccinated. Commercial and technical employees with office workplaces and the possibility of working from a home office will follow in a next step.

The vaccinations will be carried out by Sortimo company doctor Dr Achim Neumayr from Villenbach and three medical specialists from his practice. Other medical professionals will also be on site. 

"The response from our employees was extremely positive. Within a very short time, all available places for the first vaccination on the first vaccination date were taken," says Holzmüller. "We are proud to be able to contribute to the fight against the pandemic. This will help increase the pace of vaccination and quickly immunise the workforce."

Since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, the company has been actively engaged in protecting the health of its employees through a sophisticated hygiene concept and has supported the federal and state governments in dealing with the pandemic. This was preceded, among other things, by the free offer of two rapid tests per week.  

Sortimo Vaccination Centre

When the possibility for company doctors to participate in the national vaccination campaign became known, the necessary infrastructure was created at Sortimo and a vaccination concept was developed for which all the necessary preparations were made in good time. This made it possible to start the process directly. 

In addition to the possibility of online registration by the staff, the concept includes the establishment of a separate vaccination centre, which found a place in suitable premises of the company's training and further education centre. To ensure a smooth process, the Sortimo vaccination centre has six adjoining rooms, one of which serves the vaccination stations working in parallel and one as a monitoring room. In this room the employees are monitored by medical staff for at least 15 minutes after the vaccination has been administered. 

Waiting employees are informed about the vaccination procedure and possible risks by means of a 9-minute educational video in the waiting area. After the video and before the vaccination is administered, any unanswered questions can be clarified by the company doctor, Dr. Neumayr, in a joint discussion.  

What happens next

If the number of available vaccine doses increases in the course of the next few weeks, up to 24 people per hour can be vaccinated in the two vaccination lines that have been set up. 

"We are confident that we will receive more vaccine doses in a timely manner to ensure that all staff members willing to be vaccinated can also be offered the vaccine within a reasonable period of time," says Wolfgang Holzmüller. "A high vaccination rate will significantly minimise the risk for all colleagues and enable them to return to a normal life soon."

Of course, the vaccination offer is voluntary, but it is supported and recommended by the management.