FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German pilot Samy Kramer traced a giant syringe in the sky, flying 200 kilometers to remind people of the start of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Europe.
The 20-year-old pilot traced the route he would need to follow on a GPS device before flying to the skies near Lake Constance in southern Germany. The syringe route appeared on the website flightradar24.
“There are still relatively many people opposing vaccination and my action can be a reminder for them to think about it, to get things moving,” Kramer told Reuters TV on Sunday, adding that his flight should not be understood as a direct link to be inoculated.
“Perhaps it was also a sign of joy, because the aviation industry was hit hard by the pandemic,” said Kramer.
Germany officially started its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Sunday. The federal government is planning to distribute more than 1.3 million doses of vaccine to local health officials by the end of this year and about 700,000 a week starting in January.
Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Kirsten Donovan edition