Cartography award of the Nico Rüpke Stiftung and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kartographie (DGFK) for Dr. Stefan Neumeier

The paper „Accessibility of COVID-19 Vaccination Centers in Germany via Different Means of Transport“ published in the Journal „KN – Journal of Cartography and Geographic Information“ was awarded as the best scientific paper in the issues KN 4/2021 to KN 3/2022.

In reaction to reported difficulties in accessing vaccination centers during the rollout of the German COVID-19 vaccination program, Stefan Neumeier’s paper considers the questions whether, where and for whom spatial inequalities might exist with regard to the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination centers. The paper provides data to assess the acute supply situation and toobtain knowledge for future crises, in which an adequate disaster response similar to the COVID-19 pandemic is needed to efficiently support large parts of the population.

The paper offers a small-scale modeling of the transport accessibility of the German COVID-19 vaccination centers by the means of transport car, bicycle, foot, and public transport. The key finding is that, contrary to popular perception, there are no serious disparities in the accessibility or inaccessibility of COVID-19 vaccination centers between rural and urban areas. The author sums up that accessibility differences are rather due to differences in the individual mobility capabilities of households in both rural and urban areas.

Further information on the Cartographie Award of the Nico Rüpke Stiftung (https://www.dgfk.net/kartographie-preis-der-nico-ruepke-stiftung/

The paper can be accessed here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42489-021-00088-x