Germany’s warning to its people
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The Christmas market was open to all visitors in Dortmund, West Germany, on November 22, 2021. Covid crisis has caused some federal German states to close their Christmas markets.
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The German health minister issued an uncompromising warning to citizens, stating that they must get vaccinated if they want to survive.
Jens Spahn stated that although some would argue this is too optimistic, almost everyone in Germany by Monday will have been vaccinated.
Spahn stated that the rapid rise in infection rates is due to “the very contagious Delta variant”. This is considered the fourth wave of pandemic.
As cases rise, Germany may consider whether it should implement tighter Covid-19 and even partial lockdowns like its neighbour, the Netherlands. According to the Robert Koch Institute of infectious diseases, there were more than 33,000 new cases on Monday.
Germany’s vaccination rate is among the lowest in Europe, with 68% of its adults fully vaccinated and only 7% receiving a booster shot. Because vaccines are not effective after 6 months, booster shots may be needed.
Spahn advised Germans to not be fussy about the vaccination they want to get, saying that “some vaccinating doctors say BioNTech and Moderna are the Mercedes of vaccines,” Deutsche Welle reported.
Spahn claimed that “there is enough vaccine for all the upcoming vaccinations.” Spahn stated, “And both vaccines do work.”
Germany deploys both the Pfizer-BioNTech shot (BioNTech is a German company and Germans have tended to prefer this shot) as well as the Moderna vaccine, AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine and the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) shot.
Jens Spahn is Federal Minister for Health on his way to present the National Reserve Health Protection at the Federal press conference in Berlin on July 21, 2021.
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Covid vaccines reduce severe infections, hospitalization, and even death. However some countries in Europe are more resistant to vaccines than others. Access to public places for unvaccinated as well as vaccinated individuals is becoming more segregated.
Merkel’s warning
Angela Merkel, outgoing Chancellor, also warned the nation Monday. She said that Covid regulations were not sufficient to stop the fourth wave of attacks and needed stronger action.
“We have a highly dramatic situation — the current rules are not enough,” Merkel told a meeting of leaders of her conservative Christian Democratic Union party, Reuters reported.
Merkel reached out to 16 German federal states leaders, who have taken a large number of their Covid responses during the pandemic. Merkel urged them all to adopt tougher restrictions as soon as possible.
Germany’s Covid laws have been tightened in recent times. Last Thursday Merkel and the country’s 16 state premiers agreed a new package of measures to tackle the virus, with restrictions introduced for unvaccinated people in areas of the country where hospital admissions exceed a certain threshold.
Merkel said that Merkel had noted earlier in the day that some of the measures announced would be unnecessary if people were getting vaccinated more often. Her comments indicated that it was being considered to make mandatory the vaccination of hospital personnel.
Several states and cities have already imposed stricter rules requiring the public to show Covid passes, which have an individual’s vaccination status or if they’ve just recovered from the virus (also widely known as “2G rules” as they refer to whether people are vaccinated — “geimpft” in German — or recovered, “genesen”) in order to access bars, restaurants and other public venues like movie theaters or museums.
Europe’s most recent wave
Germany is not the only one seeing an increase in Covid cases during winter. Europe overall has been experiencing soaring infections. This prompts many countries to tighten their rules.
Austria’s full lockdown has been reimposed, with all citizens being asked to stay at home, and the non-essential shops and bars closing. The partial lockdown in the Netherlands sees bars and restaurants close at 8 pm (among other rules). It is expected to continue until December 1, although it may be extended.
Covid passes have become increasingly important for many countries in order to continue their leisure and business activities. But, some critics argue that these cards are actually segregating the world along vaccination lines.
Learn more Protests against Covid rules and lockdowns erupt across Europe
Protests against new restrictions have rocked Europe in recent weeks, with protests in Brussels, Vienna and Rome last weekend.
U.S. hasn’t lost sight of the Covid crisis in this region. which only recently lifted an international travel banThat had banned visitors from 33 countries including Britain and most of Europe. U.S. State Department on Monday warned Americans against traveling to Germany, citing the country’s “very high concentration of Covid-19.”
The advisory came after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement to “avoid travel to Germany. Make sure that you’re fully-vaccinated if you plan to travel to Germany.
“Because of the current situation in Germany, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants,” the CDC warned. Similar warnings are issued for the U.K. and other European countries, including the Netherlands, Slovakia. Denmark, Norway, Austria, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Slovakia, Denmark, Denmark, and Norway.
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