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northAccording to Health Minister Jens Spahn, the crown’s state restrictions must be extended at least partially after the January 10 deadline. In view of the increase in the death rate, he sees no reason to give the go-ahead. “I don’t see how we can go back to pre-lock mode in this situation,” Spahn told a joint press conference with RKI chief Lothar Wieler on Wednesday morning in Berlin.
On Tuesday night, Spahn announced an extension of the lockdown at the ARD “Tagesthemen.” When it comes to containing the pandemic, Germany is “far from where we have to go,” said the CDU politician. Therefore, after January 10 there will be “measures without a doubt”. To what extent the federal and state governments would have to decide at their scheduled conference next Tuesday.
Spahn is skeptical about the possible opening of schools and nurseries, as requested in mid-January by the Minister of Education and Culture of Baden-Württemberg, Susanne Eisenmann (CDU). “A week too long is better now than a week too short,” Spahn said when asked by a reporter at Wednesday’s press conference. One is still far from normal. Therefore, it is also important to reduce contacts on New Year’s Eve. It will be the “quietest New Year’s Eve” that Germany can remember.
Those who want to get vaccinated, Spahn warned, be patient. “The vaccine is in short supply around the world,” he said. But step by step, more doses of the Biontech / Pfizer vaccine and other vaccines would become available. EU-wide approval of Moderna’s vaccine is expected on January 6. It also assumes that the Astra Zeneca vaccine will be quickly but thoroughly approved in the EU, according to Spahn.
“The start of the vaccination was successful,” Spahn said after vaccinations began across the EU on Sunday. This year alone, more than 1.3 million doses will be delivered in Germany, and more than 60,000 Germans have already been vaccinated, especially in nursing homes.
“Let’s give priority now to those who need the vaccine most urgently, because it protects them better,” Spahn said, naming the very old, those who need care and those who care for them. The minister explicitly asked doctors and nurses to get vaccinated: “It is a matter of common sense to get vaccinated.” Spahn went on to say, “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic.”
Wieler shuts down hopes of herd immunity soon
After the start of the Covid-19 vaccines in Germany, the head of RKI, Lothar Wieler, warned during the press conference of negligence in complying with the rules of conduct. “Despite vaccination, we all have to continue to comply with the AHA + L rules and limit our contacts for the next several months,” he said. He asked that people not travel, that they meet as few people as possible and, if so, only with the same people and in the open air. “Let’s remove the wind from the virus sails together.”
It will be months before so many people are vaccinated that the circulation of the virus in the population will also be reduced, Wieler said. On the one hand, the vaccine must be available in sufficient quantities, on the other hand, it takes time to administer the drug. Even after the vaccination of the first groups, not all are protected, no vaccine is perfect, emphasized the head of RKI. It is also unclear to what extent the vaccine can prevent infection.
The debate over whether people vaccinated against the crown should be given certain privileges, such as access to restaurants, is what Spahn called “absolutely correct and important,” as he put it on “Bild live.” The private-commercial sector has more room for maneuver in this matter. According to their legal understanding, a pizzeria would only be “what is possible” for vaccinated people.
In the public sector and in services of general interest, for example in hospitals, town halls or local public transport, from his point of view no distinction can be made between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
He added that it was unclear whether people who had been vaccinated could continue to infect others. That makes “a very decisive difference.” Recommend waiting for findings.
The president of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, expects the readiness for a corona vaccination to increase in the coming months. “For those who have been vaccinated, the pandemic is no longer terrifying, they will feel better and more relaxed. That will be contagious, but in a positive way, ”he told the Germany publishing network. For herd immunity, at least a vaccination rate between 65 and 70 percent is necessary.
The medical president recommended keeping the distance and hygiene regulations in force. “While not everyone who wants to be vaccinated can do so, the protection rules must continue to be observed, also by those vaccinated,” he said. It is very likely that vaccinated people are no longer contagious. But there may be a residual risk. “It is absolutely necessary that we get more scientific knowledge here.”
If enough vaccine is available, in Reinhardt’s view, vaccine opponents can no longer count on the consideration of society. “You have to live with the risk of developing a serious Covid-19 in certain circumstances. You cannot take society hostage,” said the medical president.
Reinhardt also called on the federal government and state leaders to reconsider the target of 50 new infections per 100,000 residents per week when they decide to extend the strict lockdown. “If we are strictly based on the incidence of 50 it must be carefully weighed against other important factors, such as the psychosocial consequences of school closings,” Reinhardt said.
In addition to vaccines, uniform measures are needed nationwide to minimize contact, especially for older people and previously ill people, he said. “Why is it so difficult to create fixed time windows for seniors to shop in retail stores or special appointment spaces in public institutions throughout Germany?” The medical president also called for sufficient testing facilities and protective material not only for nursing homes, but also for family caregivers.
