Gütersloh, 01/24/2022

Nearly 10,000 Vaccinations At The Bertelsmann Vaccination Center

After nearly eight months, the company is closing its vaccination center in Gütersloh on January 27. By then, nearly 10,000 vaccinations will have been administered at the center. The company medical service is equipped for further vaccination campaigns in its expanded office at Arvato.

The closing of the Bertelsmann Vaccination Center in Gütersloh, housed in the large tent at Arvato’s premises along the autobahn, on January 27 after almost eight months, marks the end of a unique project. A project with a major impact: Since it opened on June 3 of last year, nearly 10,000 vaccinations have been administered at the vaccination center, including the appointments still booked through the last day of vaccinations. Nearly 5,000 Bertelsmann employees at the Gütersloh site will then have received their first, second, or booster vaccinations here, or in many cases all three. “With this project, Bertelsmann made a significant contribution to the protection of its own employees, as well as to the success of the vaccination campaign in the Gütersloh district as a whole,” concludes Chief HR Officer Immanuel Hermreck. “With our vaccination center, we were able to significantly alleviate the tense vaccination situation, especially in the fall and winter in our home county.” Going forward, local vaccination centers, general practitioners, and soon other vaccinators such as veterinarians, dentists and pharmacies will be able to offer vaccination appointments nationwide and in a timely manner, so that a company vaccination center of the size Bertelsmann had set up will no longer be necessary, Hermreck said.

‘Reached a large proportion of employees with the vaccination offer’

“The response from our colleagues was really great,” said Martin Kewitsch, who was responsible for the vaccination center in his role as head of Bertelsmann’s crisis task force. “When you consider that Group companies employ around 11,000 people in the district, the figures show that we were able to reach a large proportion of them with our vaccination services in our vaccination center alone. Not to mention hundreds of their relatives. This shows us how right and important it was to set up this really substantial project.” Kewitsch once again thanked all the employees involved at various Bertelsmann companies for their great efforts and outstanding teamwork, without which the establishment and operation of the vaccination center would not have been possible.

Sebastian Köhne, Bertelsmann’s Senior Company Doctor, who was frequently on duty at the vaccination center along with his Company Medical Services team, is likewise pleased about the high numbers. “I’m pleased about the great success of our vaccination campaign, which enabled us to keep many colleagues healthy and prevent serious cases of the disease,” says Köhne. Köhne reports that Company Medical Services everyone actively involved in and at the vaccination center had also received consistently positive appreciation from employees in personal conversations. “Of course, we won’t stop vaccinating after January 27,” he emphasizes. Individual Corona vaccinations can still be carried out at the Company Medical Services office - or at the public contact points mentioned by Martin Kewitsch. “And if a fourth vaccination campaign should become necessary, we could use the recently expanded Company Medical Services premises in Tower 1 on Arvato’s grounds along the autobahn for this.” Sebastian Köhne estimates that 150 to 200 vaccinations per day can easily be carried out there.