Berlin Olaf Scholz did not dedicate his first words to the coalition agreement of a likely traffic light government that the SPD candidate for chancellor presented on Wednesday afternoon together with the Greens and FDP. Before he set out the key points, he announced new measures against the worsening corona crisis for almost five minutes. “The situation is serious,” said Scholz.
The new federal government will set up a permanent federal-state crisis team. He will continuously monitor the situation. In addition, an expert group will be set up in the Chancellery. It is a matter of observing the situation, checking the effectiveness of measures and, if necessary, developing further steps, said Scholz.
Nursing staff should also receive a new bonus because of the special burdens, for which the SPD, Greens and FDP want to provide one billion euros. In addition, Scholz spoke out in favor of a job-related vaccination requirement.
The federal states asked the federal government at their Corona summit last Thursday to implement such a rule. It is now taking shape. “Vaccination is the way out of this pandemic,” said Scholz. “In facilities in which particularly vulnerable groups are cared for, we should make vaccination compulsory. An extension of this regulation remains to be examined. “
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A formulation aid from the Federal Ministry of Health to the traffic light parties for a job-related vaccination requirement could be the basis for this. The rule is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2022 and provides for a three-month transition period.
Because of the corona situation, the federal and state health ministers want to meet in a special video conference on Thursday.
(Photo: dpa)
The President of the German Medical Association, Klaus Reinhardt, now demanded that the traffic light parties act quickly. The measure should not only be implemented at the turn of the year, but as early as December and with a shorter transition period of just two months. “Every day without this rule is a lost day in the fight against the pandemic,” Reinhardt told the Handelsblatt.
On the other hand, he rejected a general compulsory vaccination in order to make rapid progress in the fight against the pandemic. It could also lead to people who are skeptical of vaccinations consciously deciding against vaccination out of defiance. “It is now crucial that the 2G rule is more strictly controlled and also linked to noticeable fines,” he said. Several prime ministers had called for a general vaccination in the past few days.
The Leipzig constitutional lawyer Christoph Degenhart also considers such a measure to be necessary. The job-related vaccination requirement could only be the “first step”, he told the Handelsblatt. “However, this also raises questions that make the measure vulnerable,” said Degenhart.
Older people would not only come into contact with medical staff in their everyday lives, but also with salespeople or passengers in local public transport. “In the interests of equal treatment and effectiveness, I therefore consider a general vaccination requirement to be mandatory,” said the constitutional lawyer.
The new federal government will set up a permanent federal-state crisis team.
(Photo: dpa)
Vaccination against the coronavirus is already the rule and practically mandatory for soldiers in the German Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense has made this vaccination “obligatory” for the more than 180,000 men and women in the Bundeswehr. The executive defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) had instructed this, said a spokesman for the ministry on Wednesday.
Incidence at a new high
The corona situation is getting worse. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the seven-day incidence rose to a new high of 404.5 – after 399.8 the previous day and 319.5 a week ago. According to the RKI, 56.6 million people or 68.1 percent of all residents are now fully vaccinated. 58.8 million people received at least one first injection. A booster vaccination was given to 6.6 million people.
The executive chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) urges to contain the threatening spread of corona in Germany. In a conversation with top representatives of the traffic light parties, Merkel made “the extraordinary seriousness of the situation” clear, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. “We are on the way to an emergency like we have never had in this country.” He referred, among other things, to increasingly scarce intensive care capacities and the need to transfer patients to other clinics across regions.
It must now be a matter of braking and breaking the fourth corona wave, Seibert made it clear to the Chancellor. He did not provide any information on possible further containment measures and calls for a more rapid renewed federal-state vote. He also referred to the confidentiality of the conversation with the SPD, Greens and FDP. As reported by “Bild”, the Chancellor called for an immediate lockdown, including for those who had been vaccinated, by the beginning of December.
Meanwhile, the Saarland Prime Minister Tobias Hans (CDU) has called for rapid consultations by the Prime Ministers on uniformly stricter rules. “We have to prevent the threatened overload of the health system with all our might and we mustn’t wait until December 9th to analyze the situation,” said Hans of the German press agency.
Because of the corona situation, the federal and state health ministers want to meet at a special video conference on Thursday and discuss the transfer of patients.
The corresponding concept, which was adopted in 2020, provides for the installation to be carried out initially within five regions – west, north, east, south, and south-west. If there are no longer any vacancies in one of these regions, the relocation to other areas will be organized in exchange with the joint reporting and situation center of the federal and state governments at the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK). Representatives of the Federal Office and the Federal Ministries of the Interior and Defense were also invited to the special meeting of the health ministers.
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