The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has reported an increasing incidence for the first time in a good two weeks. The value rose slightly from 315.4 on Sunday to 316.0 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week. Within 24 hours, 16,086 positive corona tests were reported to the RKI, 5,657 fewer than on Monday a week ago. In addition, 119 new deaths were registered.
On November 28, the incidence of 484.9 had reached its preliminary high in the current fourth wave. Since then, the value had steadily decreased – until now. Experts fear that the incidence will soon increase sharply because of the more contagious omicron variant. (20.12.2021)
Corona summit is scheduled for Tuesday
The federal and state governments have agreed to meet at short notice for a new prime ministerial conference on Tuesday afternoon. The agreed Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) as Chairman of the Prime Ministers’ Conference, as both sides of the German Press Agency in Berlin announced.
The appointment should only be about the topic of Corona. Accordingly, in addition to tightening at events, a nationwide FFP2 mask requirement and contact restrictions for vaccinated people are under discussion. The background to this is, among other things, warnings from Chancellor Scholz’s scientific corona advisory board, which warns in a statement of the serious effects of a further spread of the omicron variant.
“Politicians have to honestly tell the citizens that restrictions in everyday life will also be absolutely necessary in the new year – I’m sure many people are expecting that,” Wüst wrote on Twitter. They expect “clear announcements and as much planning security as possible in a pandemic”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/.” The federal and state governments must therefore agree on a timetable for the next few weeks before Christmas.”
Wüst revealed in the ARD “Morgenmagazin” that he does not consider further restrictions to be necessary for Christmas. With a view to the turn of the year, Wüst said: “The big New Year’s Eve break will not be possible.” The Omicron variant calls for absolute vigilance. “We will have to talk about how we keep our country running,” said Wüst on ARD. Among other things, he warned of the dangers to electricity and water supplies and the consequences of staff shortages in the police and fire brigade if the number of infected people increases significantly. Emergency plans involving the Technical Relief Agency and the German Armed Forces are needed. (20.12.2021)
Immunologist Watzl considers another lockdown to be inevitable
The Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, Carsten Watzl, assumes that booster vaccinations alone will not be enough to contain the omicron variant of the coronavirus. “The first reports indicate that even after the boosters, the protection against omicron infection could only be around 75 percent, while with Delta it is well over 90 percent after the third vaccination,” says Watzl Augsburg General.
“That would mean that many more vaccinated people could become infected with omicron,” he says. “We will have to bring down the incidences that are skyrocketing at Omikron and we will not be able to do that now as in this fourth wave with booster vaccinations, but then only with distance and contact restrictions,” said Watzl. “That means I unfortunately see a lockdown coming that will affect us all.”
Even if the vaccination reduces the risk of illness by 80 or 90 percent, there is still a high residual risk that some of the vaccinated will end up in the hospital, said Watzl. Therefore, with an imminent, rapidly growing omicron wave and a sharp increase in the number of infected people, the hospital burden will inevitably increase. “This applies even if the omicron variant leads to less severe courses, because we will simply get many more cases overall.”
The Green health politician Janosch Dahmen considers a lockdown after the holidays to be conceivable. “We have to get ahead of the omicron wave with our measures. Our actions today determine tomorrow’s pandemic situation,” he said. “Given the extremely high portability of Omikron, we will probably not be able to avoid a lockdown after Christmas. A possible scenario would be a well-planned lockdown in early January.” (20.12.2021)
Lauterbach has the national vaccination register checked and expects Novavax to be approved this Monday
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach is examining whether it would make sense to set up a national register for the central recording of corona vaccinations. “I’ll have it checked,” said the SPD politician on Sunday in the image. If the check reveals that the register will become a “giant bureaucracy monster” because it is very difficult to record citizens’ vaccinations retrospectively, then he will “probably be against it”. If it turns out that the vaccination register doesn’t take much effort, “then I’ll be in favor of it”.
With a vaccination register, people’s corona vaccination status could be recorded centrally. A general corona vaccination obligation could be controlled in this way. For him, however, the priority now is to speed up vaccination, said Lauterbach. “One thing I want to prevent is that we keep doctors from vaccinating with even more bureaucracy and documentation.”
Lauterbach expects the novel corona vaccine from the US manufacturer Novavax to be approved by the EU drug authority EMA on Monday. That’s what he said Image-Newspaper. At the same time, he warned against assuming that the new vaccine “will be a game changer”. According to studies, the vaccines from Moderna and Biontech, which have already been administered millions of times, are “a whole lot safer”. Unlike all previous vaccines, the vaccine contains tiny particles that consist of a laboratory-made version of the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein. (20.12.2021)
Ex-Federal President Gauck for compulsory vaccination
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck is in favor of compulsory vaccination when it comes to Corona. “Even as a liberal Democrat, I can accept such a measure because the obligation to vaccinate limits my personal freedom in an overall very small sector,” said Gauck Augsburg General. The encroachment on physical integrity is rather small in relation to its benefit. “If the appeals to vaccinate are not enough, compulsory vaccination is the obvious solution.”
Gauck added: “I think that many people would accept the obligation to vaccinate – some reluctantly, but according to the motto, if it’s an obligation, then we’ll comply with it. Sporty drivers also want to drive as fast as possible everywhere, but they also want to stop in their large majority to the applicable rules.” There are good moral, factual, political and legal reasons for accepting compulsory vaccination. “That’s why our legal system doesn’t collapse,” said the former head of state.
Employer President Rainer Dulger is giving up his hesitant attitude towards a general obligation to vaccinate. “I have long relied on people’s reason, but now I am very much in favor of general vaccination,” said the head of the Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA). Handelsblatt. “I think it’s the only viable way to get the pandemic under control.” (20.12.2021)
Vaccination center glitch: Children get Moderna vaccine instead of Biontech
At the vaccination center in the district of Olpe in North Rhine-Westphalia, several children were injected with the Moderna vaccine on Sunday – although only the Biontech agent has been approved for them so far. “The parents of the affected children were immediately informed of the incident,” the district said. In a conversation with the medical management of the vaccination center, they were informed that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had applied for approval for the Moderna vaccine for children.
The children who received the Moderna drug had no abnormalities when they left the vaccination center. At the request of the parents, the incident was reported to the police. He was noticed by the vaccinating medical assistant himself, so it was said. It was not disclosed how many children were involved.
In November, the EMA gave the green light for the approval of the Biontech/Pfizer corona vaccine for children aged five and over. It is the first corona vaccine approved in the EU for children under the age of twelve. The children will receive only a third of the adult dose of the vaccine and two doses three weeks apart. The Moderna vaccine Spikevax has so far been approved in the EU for people aged twelve and over. However, the Standing Vaccination Commission for people under 30 only recommends vaccination with the Biontech agent. (19.12.2021)
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