Karl Lauterbach promises an end to general PCR tests with “Markus Lanz”, but sees the way out of the “mess” in compulsory vaccination.
Hamburg – Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is back with “Markus Lanz”, at least by video. Tune in from rainy Berlin, he reports from the screen that the PCR test capacities are running low in view of the spread of omicrons: “We won’t be able to hold out. We will get such high numbers of cases that we will have to prioritize the PCRs. At the weekend I will present a proposal on how this should happen. So who gets the PCR test and where we no longer use the PCR test. We will decide that at the prime ministers’ conference on Monday.”
“Who will then get a PCR test in the future?” asks talkmaster Lanz* and brings a term from the early days of the pandemic into play: “The systemically relevant?” Lauterbach says he doesn’t want to “roll it out individually, but it’s very clear that here the hospital staff, the nursing staff, the people in the care of the disabled, that they have to be given special consideration”.
Omicron in Germany: Minister of Health Lauterbach expects “Markus Lanz” to peak in mid-February
“How strong will the wave be?” Host Lanz would like to know from Lauterbach* afterwards. He reports on the latest modeling that he commissioned from the Robert Koch Institute: “If you look at the realistic scenarios – it is not certain that they will come, but they have the greatest probability – then I would assume that the wave will peak around mid-February and that we can then expect several hundred thousand cases at the peak of the wave.”
“We have very, very high infection numbers, increasing numbers, almost exploding infection numbers. And still a stable situation in the hospitals, ”Lanz refers to the currently low hospitalization value. “But that is not a relevant, or to put it another way, an irrelevant snapshot,” replies Lauterbach and explains, “the wave is only just beginning. We have limitations that work. So we’re going to get the really strong wave that’s already going on in England or France, 500,000 and more infections a day – so this wave will come in Germany.”
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach gives Markus Lanz hope: “These are only delta cases that will hopefully heal soon”
In addition, Lauterbach explains, “there is a special problem that it affects the large group of older unvaccinated people”. He sees the risk of overloading the intensive care units from this group. “But I don’t expect that now,” adds the Minister of Health, however, and explains: “So far, only very few have been infected with omicron and these are also the younger age groups. The right load in the intensive care units, I would expect that in the middle or end of February.”
At the moment, patients with previous variants are currently in the hospitals, accompanied by a sweeping gesture, says Lauterbach: “These are almost only the delta cases, which we hope will soon recover.” While Lauterbach is speaking, Lanz’s face brightens : “That hand gesture you make on ‘Delta’ gives me hope. Because it basically says the thing goes away.”
“Markus Lanz” – these were his guests on January 19:
- Karl Lauterbach (SPD) – Politician
- Petra Koepping (SPD) – politician
- Matthew Quent – Extremism researcher
- Franziska Klemenz – journalist
Lauterbach then renewed his plea for a general obligation to vaccinate: “It is absolutely necessary to vaccinate if we want this problem to be solved once and for all in autumn. I just don’t want to get into a situation where we have to think about it again in the fall: do we have to take lockdown measures? Do children have to go to hybrid classes? Can certain businesses no longer be operated?” With his patience for people who refuse vaccination, the health minister seems at the end: “We protect the unvaccinated. Now is the time when those who have not been vaccinated must also make their contribution and from my point of view that is compulsory vaccination. From my point of view, it should be decided as soon as possible so that it can already take full effect in the autumn.”
“Then why don’t you present a clear draft law as a coalition?” Lanz tries to dig at Lauterbach and put his finger in the wound: “Why does your own chancellor say and ‘stabs you in the back’, I don’t want to say, but leaves you standing in at least a hint of rain and makes a clear distinction between his status as a member of parliament and as federal chancellor?” The host talks himself into the mood: “I can’t get it together in my head. You can’t say: If you now see Olaf Scholz* on TV, it’s the member of parliament and the next day it’s the chancellor again. There can’t be that much schizophrenia.”
Vaccination debate at “Markus Lanz”: is Karl Lauterbach losing his trust?
“That’s not schizophrenia,” replies Lauterbach, and elaborates on why, in his view, a conscientious decision by parliamentarians is the appropriate way to deal with ethical issues such as compulsory vaccination. The conclusion of the Minister of Health: “The referee cannot play along.” The extremism researcher Matthias Quent has his problems with Lauterbach’s statements: “I understand the argument formally, but I think it is very difficult to convey.” Talkmaster Lanz picks up on this thread: “People have trusted you for two years, you’ve been on the show a lot. We often exchanged ideas about it.”
“And in the end there was always the result,” Lanz continues, “there is someone who understands the trade, who knows exactly what has to be done. And now you say, although this great trust is placed in you: I am being neutral. That’s the opposite of leadership.” Lauterbach replies briefly and matter-of-factly: “That’s not right. I’m not neutral about what I stand for. I’ve just presented the reason for the obligation to vaccinate again.” His point of view: “When it comes to important ethical issues, it’s important that it’s not party politics.”
Relax corona measures? Karl Lauterbach on “Markus Lanz”: “We’re not at that point yet”
Lauterbach ignores the fact that Lanz accuses the government of “fear of its own ranks and of losing the chancellor majority”. Instead, he warns that the health system will be overloaded if other mutants encounter a large vaccination gap: “We have to expect that there could be so-called recombined variants, where you have the risk of infection of an omicron variant with the danger of a delta variant or something similar variants combined.”
“Christian Drosten is becoming more positive and says, ‘We have to let the virus run’,” notes Markus Lanz, who sees a problem in political communication among the population. “Christian Drosten described it that way in the Tagesspiegel interview,” replies Lauterbach, “we can afford more, open a gap when we have achieved sufficient vaccination, when vaccination protection in the population is high enough. And that’s exactly how I see it.” Unfortunately, that’s not the case yet, Lauterbach says: “We’re not at that point, and Christian Drosten doesn’t say that either.”
“Markus Lanz” – The conclusion of the show
In the first half of the show, the “Markus Lanz”* group listens to the interview between host Markus Lanz and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), who is connected via video. The SPD health expert not only explains that the PCR test capacities are running out, but also gives a prognosis for the peak of the omicron wave. Accordingly, the worst could be over by the beginning of March.
In the second half of the show, the guests look towards Saxony, with journalist Franziska Klemenz and extremism researcher Matthias Quent providing the analyses. Politician Petra Köpping (SPD), who has become well-known throughout Germany, and in front of whose house a torchlight procession of Corona* opponents ran up in early December, describes the experiences of that evening. The Saxon Minister of Health reported emotionally about the quick arrival of the police and the overwhelming response in the days that followed: “That also gave me courage.” (Hermann Racke)
#schizophrenia #Lauterbach #expects #hundreds #thousands #infections #day