BUnvaccinated Health Minister Jens Spahn defended the planned end of the financial compensation for ordered quarantine for unvaccinated people. “It’s not about pressure, by the way, but about fairness towards the vaccinated as well. Why should others pay for someone to decide not to be vaccinated? ”Said the CDU politician on Wednesday in the ZDF“ morning magazine ”.
The federal and state health ministers want to discuss a uniform approach on Wednesday. An end to compensation for loss of earnings due to ordered quarantine for unvaccinated people is under discussion by October 11 at the latest. In the first countries, unvaccinated people will soon no longer be entitled to compensation for loss of earnings. The Federal Infection Protection Act already provides for this if isolation could have been avoided by taking a recommended vaccination.
Also with the 2G option – i.e. the possibility, for example, to only allow vaccinated and convalescents at events – Spahn spoke out in favor of a uniform regulation. He will advertise this in the consultations with the state health ministers.
Risk to the unvaccinated
Spahn expects herd immunity to the corona virus in the coming spring and thus an end to the pandemic. “If no new virus variant emerges against which a vaccination does not protect, which is very unlikely, then we will have overcome the pandemic in spring and can return to normal,” said the CDU politician of the newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine. “Herd immunity is always achieved. The only question is how: whether through vaccination or infection. Vaccination is definitely the safer way to get there. “
“Those who do not get vaccinated have a high probability of falling ill,” said the minister and warned against underestimating the risk of infection in view of the currently falling number of infections. “Last year we had such a breather at this time of the year. So we’re not through yet. In autumn and winter, when we are all indoors a lot more and the immune system is less strong, the risk of getting infected also increases. ”Spahn attributed the current decline in the number of infections mainly to the end of the holiday season and the stricter test rules.
The health minister emphasized that it was still too early to lift the corona measures. “If we no longer had any protective measures, our intensive care units would be overloaded by the still too large number of unvaccinated people,” said Spahn. For a “Freedom Day” like in other countries, the vaccination rate in Germany is not yet high enough. A good 67 percent of all residents in Germany have so far received at least one vaccination, over 63 percent are fully vaccinated with the second injection, which is usually necessary. Spahn also announced more efforts to research and treat Long Covid, the persistence of corona symptoms for many weeks. Little is known about that yet. There is no uniform clinical picture and no clear diagnosis.
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