Monday 15th November 2021
Another “protective layer” is necessary
Drosten: 2G hardly protects unvaccinated people
Neither 3G nor 2G rules could prevent unvaccinated people from contracting corona, warns virologist Christian Drosten the members of the Bundestag. This group is mainly on the move “in private life” – according to Drosten, this is where politics must start.
Experts have warned against a one-sided focus on the so-called 2G and 3G rules in combating the spreading corona pandemic. “With 3G we will not prevent infections of unvaccinated people,” said virologist Christian Drosten at a public committee hearing in the Bundestag on the changes to the Infection Protection Act planned by the SPD, Greens and FDP. The primary goal remains the protection of the unvaccinated – an infection in this group could not be prevented by testing, said Drosten.
The 3G rule allows people who have been vaccinated and recovered as well as those who have been tested to have access to indoor events, for example. However, people who have been vaccinated could unknowingly be infected and transmit the virus. Many unvaccinated groups are also difficult to reach through 3G because, for example, they have no formal work or are retired, do not travel much and hardly attend events and “actually move about in their private life,” said Drosten.
According to Drosten, these people are also barely protected by 2G – i.e. access only for those who have been vaccinated and recovered – because they “get the virus home” in their private lives, including from children from school. The virologist at the Berlin Charité therefore advocated an “additional protective layer” for unvaccinated groups that could become infected in private. This concerns about the “freedom to meet”.
Max Planck researcher Viola Priesemann also does not see the 2G and 3G regulations as a panacea. Establishing only 2G and 3G in the public sector will “not be enough to bring the number of cases down”. After all, most of the contacts are in the private sphere. Priesemann again strongly advocated a faster pace of basic vaccinations and booster vaccinations. If the level of vaccinations reached in summer again, “then we would see the first effects in a month,” said Priesemann at the hearing with a view to the number of new infections.
New plans of the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP for the Infection Protection Act provide for stricter contact restrictions and the 3G rule in the workplace. There should also continue to be an opening clause for expanded powers of the federal states. The main committee of the Bundestag discussed the new plans at a hearing with experts. The Bundestag and Bundesrat want to finalize the succession plan for the epidemic emergency by Friday.