B.If the number of corona infections continues to rise, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) believes that new restrictions are possible. However, these should only apply to unvaccinated people. “If the pandemic situation in the hospitals worsens regionally, then further restrictions are only possible for those who have not been vaccinated,” said Merkel on Wednesday through her spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin. People with full vaccination protection should be exempted: “Nobody is planning further restrictions for them.”
Such restrictions could then be in the form of 2-G rules, said Seibert. That is, vaccinated and convalescent people would be excluded from the restrictions. Seibert pointed out that the increasing numbers of infections in some regions led to a “really bad situation” in the hospitals; In some places, intensive care beds would be scarce.
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) meanwhile criticized the speed of booster vaccinations in the federal states. Although it was agreed with the federal states three months ago that residents in care facilities and all people over 60 years of age should be offered a booster, there have only been two million booster vaccinations since then, the minister said on Wednesday at a press conference in Berlin. The states should inform those affected how North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin were doing this. The federal states have committed to leaving vaccination centers in stand-by mode and should now reactivate them. He will also talk to medical representatives. “Too many people who want to be vaccinated cannot currently find a doctor to vaccinate them,” says Spahn.
“The pandemic is far from over”
Vaccine expert Leif Sander believes that around 30 million people in Germany should promptly receive booster vaccinations. The current pace of vaccination is not enough to reach the high-risk group this winter, said the head of the research group for infection immunology and vaccine research at the Charité on Wednesday at the press conference. He reiterated his call for a coordinated booster campaign. The aim was to quickly reach the elderly, people with severe previous illnesses and immunodeficiency, as well as health care personnel. A dampening effect on the infection process can also be expected.
In view of the deteriorating corona situation in Germany, Minister Spahn urges caution and further protective measures. “The pandemic is anything but over.” In some regions, the number of intensive care patients is increasing, and transfers to other hospitals are already planned. Once again, it is important to prevent the health system from becoming overloaded. Test concepts are necessary in all nursing homes, and in regions with a large number of infections there are also access rules only for vaccinated and convalescent people (2G). However, Spahn refused a mandatory vaccination for staff in community facilities such as nursing homes. In his opinion, there is a “moral obligation” for staff to be vaccinated, but an obligation to vaccinate could divide society.
.
#Extension #rule #Merkel #considers #restrictions #unvaccinated #people