Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to act flexibly in the fight against the corona pandemic: “There must be no red lines, this pandemic has really shown us that. We always have to be ready to rethink if the circumstances require it, ”said Scholz of“ Bild am Sonntag ”. Then action must be taken quickly and decisively.
The SPD politician did not categorically rule out a Christmas lockdown. In response to a corresponding question, he said: “The federal government and the states have just taken very rigid measures. We will check on a daily basis how they are being implemented and whether they are sufficient. “
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the nationwide seven-day incidence fell to 390 on Sunday. For comparison: a week ago the value was 439. The health authorities in Germany reported 32,646 new corona infections to the RKI within one day.
However, experts assume a noticeable number of unreported cases because the health authorities and clinics can no longer keep up with reporting cases, at least in individual regions. According to the RKI, 132 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. Above all, the new virus variant Omikron is currently causing concern. It is possibly even more contagious than the previously dominant delta variant.
No more compulsory testing for those who have been boosted
Chancellor Scholz denied a split in society due to Corona. Germany is “not divided”. The vast majority of citizens would have been vaccinated. Many more wanted to do it soon because they had overcome their concerns, said the SPD politician. “Having different opinions doesn’t mean division. We are also allowed to argue. ”The head of government emphasized:“ I want to hold the country together. And so I am also the chancellor of the unvaccinated. I would like to convince them of the point of the vaccination. “
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
Read more about corona vaccines
Scholz announced that, as a member of parliament, he would vote for mandatory vaccination “because it is legally permissible and morally correct”. For nursing staff and medical professions, the Bundestag and Bundesrat had already decided on Friday that vaccinations would be mandatory from the spring. But there should also be a mandatory vaccination for everyone against the corona virus.
In order to enforce such a general compulsory vaccination, Scholz wants to rely less on the police than on the understanding of the citizens: “We are a country in which the vast majority obey the law. Not because the police are checking us everywhere. But because it is part of our nature that we obey such rules. ”
The FDP health politician Andrew Ullmann assumes that those who refuse to be vaccinated will be penalized with heavy fines after the introduction of a corona vaccination obligation. “The framework will probably be based on the violation of the measles vaccination obligation,” said Ullmann of the Funke media group. Violations of the obligation to vaccinate children against measles face fines of up to 2500 euros.
According to the will of Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), the job centers should support the vaccination campaign as much as possible in order to win more Hartz IV recipients for a corona vaccination. He asked the Federal Employment Agency as well as the federal states to “write to adult people with basic social security benefits and to inform them about vaccination offers on site,” Heil told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“The letter campaigns are just starting on site.” There are already many campaigns in which mobile vaccination teams vaccinate on the premises or in the rooms of the job center. The vaccination of children also begins on Monday. Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) called for large-scale vaccinations to be offered for five to eleven year old children. The Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) recommends vaccination in this age group only for children who have risk factors for a severe course of Covid-19 or relatives at high risk.
Politicians want to set additional vaccination incentives by stopping compulsory tests for people with booster vaccinations. Next Tuesday, the health ministers of the federal states want to discuss such a nationwide elimination of the compulsory corona test for people who have been vaccinated three times. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) will submit a proposal, said a spokesman for his ministry. The details should then be discussed.
Klaus Holetschek (CSU), Chairman of the Conference of Health Ministers, said: “We countries need clarity quickly as to whether and from when the compulsory test can be waived for people who have been vaccinated three times.” Abolishing the compulsory test is “not only medically sensible, but also provides an additional vaccination incentive” .
Retail sees “dramatic development”
The retail sector is now suffering from the 2G requirements: Anyone who has not been vaccinated or has proven to have recovered from Covid-19 no longer has access to shops. According to the trade association HDE, this is clouding the Christmas business dramatically. For many dealers this year it will be “a disaster”, says HDE managing director Stefan Genth. The regulations scared off too many customers and required an enormous amount of staff.
A current HDE survey makes it clear that retailers lost almost a third of their sales in the past week compared to the time before the crisis. So things are only going well in food retailing and online. Many retailers have already written off the Christmas business: “When you know that the last two months are usually by far the best-selling of the year, that’s a dramatic development,” said Genth.
More: Omikron co-discoverer Preiser: “I doubt that we can end the pandemic without an adapted vaccine”