2G, mandatory vaccination – these are the new measures at a glance.

• In schools, the mask requirement should apply to all classes.
• A nationwide ban on firecrackers is to apply on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. This was what the federal states, led by the Union and the Greens, demanded during the summit.
• The 2G rule will be extended to retail. Shops for daily needs are excluded.
• Meetings in public and private spaces in which unvaccinated and unconcealed people take part are limited to one’s own household and a maximum of two people from another household. Children up to the age of 14 are excluded.
• Nationwide, access to facilities such as cinemas, theaters and restaurants should only be possible for vaccinated and convalescent people (2G).
• Clubs are said to be closed at an incidence of 350 or more.
• With an incidence of 350, the number of participants of 50 vaccinated and convalescents also applies as the upper limit for indoor events.
• Outdoor events should be limited to 30 to 50 percent of the capacity and a maximum of 15,000 spectators in terms of the number of participants. The regulation also applies to Bundesliga soccer matches. In addition, a mask requirement should apply. As usual, only vaccinated or convalescent people should have access (2G). In addition, a current test can be prescribed (2GPlus).
• In addition, the legislature should tighten the Infection Protection Act, which was recently defused by the traffic light groups, by adding further measures. Closures of restaurants are mentioned.
• In addition, the vaccination status should expire if a booster vaccination is not given in time. “Taking into account the vaccination campaign and the available vaccines, the federal and state governments will come to an agreement by the end of the year on when and how a corresponding regulation should apply.”
• The resolution also provides that the Ethics Council should draw up a recommendation for general vaccination by the end of the year. Due to a decision in the Bundestag, the obligation could then apply from February next year.

“We are in a very, very difficult situation,” said Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz. “That’s why we have to change the situation – and that’s why we have to appeal again that the citizens get vaccinated.” The vaccination campaign is now a major challenge. 30 million vaccinations should be given by the end of the year.

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The federal government is also organizing additional vaccination doses for the planned acceleration of the corona vaccinations by the end of the year. After negotiations with the manufacturer Moderna, a delivery of ten million doses from the third quarter of 2022 can be brought forward to December, according to information from the Ministry of Health for the federal-state consultations on Thursday.

More vaccine

This corresponds to 20 million “booster” doses, since Moderna injects half a dose for this. In addition, an additional eight million Moderna cans are to come in December – because the delivery of promised cans to other countries via the international Covax initiative is slower.

Deliveries of the vaccine from Biontech are also to be readjusted. According to an agreement with the manufacturer, some of the weekly deliveries can be brought forward for December, explained the ministry. After 2.9 million doses in the coming week, the deliveries to the vaccination centers in the week of December 13th could be increased to five million doses. The amount of the following weeks is then reduced accordingly.

The ministry is also negotiating with other EU countries that do not currently need all of their Biontech cans. The aim is to be able to take over two to three million additional doses in December, according to the information sent by the acting minister Jens Spahn (CDU) to the conference of prime ministers. Protests were triggered by many doctors and other vaccination centers that the federal government had recently introduced upper order limits for the most widely used vaccine from Biontech – otherwise the warehouses threatened to empty too quickly.

At the same time, the ministry emphasized that the existing distribution system had proven itself overall – with “well-coordinated cooperation” between manufacturers, central warehouses in the armed forces, pharmaceutical wholesalers and pharmacies. No other system could have increased these quantities tenfold in such a short time for such a sensitive and extremely temperature-dependent product within four weeks without any loss of quality in handling.

Worries about economic losses

Trade warned of economic losses with a view to the coming restrictions. The situation for companies will not be as dramatic as in previous waves of pandemics. But the fears of business representatives are anything but unjustified. This is shown by calculations by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW). In December alone, a comprehensive 2G regulation in stationary retail would result in sales losses of around 5.3 billion euros. In the hospitality industry, 2G would reduce revenues by an additional one billion euros.

“Around 20 percent of adults in Germany are still not vaccinated. This is how high the average loss of sales will be at 2G, ”said IW economist Christian Rusche, who carried out the calculations, to Handelsblatt. Some vaccinated people would feel safer with 2G and would spend more money. But the increasingly difficult situation will generally lead to fewer people visiting the city centers. “Both effects will offset each other,” predicts Rusche.

Citizens’ mobility is already declining, especially in cities, as figures based on mobile phone data published by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday show. In November, for the first time since June, people in Germany were less on the move than before the corona pandemic. Nationwide mobility was two percent below the pre-crisis level. The decline was particularly evident in the cities, with a minus of nine percent. “This dynamic in November 2021 seems to go hand in hand with the rising incidences across Germany,” says the Federal Statistical Office.

In addition, the dwindling mobility of people was particularly evident in Saxony, where 2G has been in place across the board for a week and a half. At nine percentage points, the decline there was more pronounced than in any other federal state.
In Saxony, where nationwide 2G regulations, closings of facilities and exit restrictions for unvaccinated and non-convalescent people in hotspot regions have been in place since November 22, the decline in mobility was the greatest at 9 percentage points.

50 billion by KfW

“A widespread introduction of 2G would hit smaller businesses especially hard,” explains Rusche. Many shopkeepers might not even open their stores because of the effort. “What is needed is a rapid extension of state financial aid and, above all, easy access to it,” he says.

In the KfW special program, which the federal government can expand without the federal states, the managing federal government had already agreed in advance on an extension, according to Handelsblatt information. It would have expired at the end of the year. Through the program, KfW grants fast, low-interest loans to companies. The development bank has provided more than 50 billion euros to date.

The Federal Government had already expanded the second important Corona aid instrument with Bridging Aid IV until the end of March. Bridging aid can be given to companies that have lost at least 30 percent in sales due to Corona restrictions. Depending on the level of the break-in, you will then be reimbursed between 40 and 100 percent of your fixed costs by the state. From January this compensation will drop to a maximum of 90 percent. The state also provides support with personnel costs.

Special reliefs are planned for entrepreneurs at Christmas markets, whose business is now down. The depreciation on perishable goods and seasonal goods is extended. In addition, access to the equity grant is simplified. From January, the Christmas market exhibitors only have to prove a relevant drop in sales for one month. For all other companies, the rule remains that it must be proven for three months that you have had at least a 50 percent drop in sales.

In addition to the direct financial aid, the extension of the simplified access to short-time work allowance has already been decided.

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