Friday 29 October 2021
Boris Palmer at Maybrit Illner
“Emergency over, but it’s still serious”
By Marko Schlichting
For one and a half years there has been a national corona emergency in Germany. According to the request of Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn, it should expire on November 25th. And then? Not all guests at Maybrit Illner consider the early end to be a good idea. Tübingen’s Lord Mayor Palmer is confident.
The decision was controversial: Since March 2020, there has been an “epidemic of national importance” in Germany to combat the corona crisis. It should end soon, on November 25th. That was still proposed by Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn. The SPD, FDP and the Greens have also spoken out in favor of an end to the emergency. The traffic light parties want the federal states to decide whether to wear a mask or 2G rules. However, the Bundestag has to decide. The topic has been discussed for days, on Thursday evening on ZDF in the talk show with Maybrit Illner.
The most important problem: The vaccination rate in Germany is still too low, although almost 70 percent of Germans are already vaccinated. And more and more people who have been vaccinated are getting corona. So-called vaccination breakthroughs occur particularly in older people. With them, the number of antibodies is falling faster than previously thought. Antibodies protect against infection with corona. So-called booster vaccinations have been available for older people and people with immune diseases since September to refresh their corona protection. But first they have to be brought to the man or woman.
“Kimmich has galloped”
At the moment, however, there is again a discussion about how useful vaccinations against Covid-19 are at all. The reason are statements by Bayern Munich soccer player Joshua Kimmich. He said last Saturday that he wanted to wait with the corona vaccination due to the lack of long-term studies – and set off an avalanche. There was criticism from all sides, and the guests at Maybrit Illner did not hold back. “Kimmich has galloped,” says moderator Johannes B. Kerner, who was infected with Corona last year. With his statement, he encourages a small group of lateral thinkers. After all, billions of people have now been vaccinated without any problems.
“Kimmich is a good football player, but that doesn’t make him a vaccination expert,” said Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher. According to Tschentscher, 86 percent of the population in Hamburg are vaccinated. It is clear to him: “It is safer to get vaccinated than to come into contact with this virus.”
Ethics Council Chair Alena Buyx points out that there is a moral obligation to vaccinate. “Those who get vaccinated not only protect themselves, but also others,” says the doctor. In the opinion of the virologist Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit, the Kimmich discussion distracts from the actual topic. He says: “If a very healthy footballer does not get vaccinated, that is not a problem; if people over 60 do not get vaccinated, it is.”
“Pandemic is not a private matter”
The Mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer of the Greens, can understand that people do not get vaccinated. He thinks this is a defiant reaction. Many people feel pressured on this issue, and pressure creates back pressure, he says.
Alena Buyx sees it completely differently. A pandemic is not a private matter, she says. If someone becomes infected with the very contagious delta variant and then has to go to the hospital, it has an effect on many other people. “We’re in there together, whether we like it or not,” she says.
Dispute over the end of the emergency
When the pandemic emergency should end is very controversial among politicians. In any case, November 25th is too early for Peter Tschentscher. He’d rather wait until the end of the year. In view of the rising incidence values, he would like to monitor the corona situation. Boris Palmer, on the other hand, is counting on the rapid end of the pandemic emergency, “because the balance between freedom and health protection must be guaranteed.” The vaccination rate is high. School closings or a lockdown are no longer necessary. Now it is important to tell the population that politicians do not want to control them, but want to give them back their freedom.
“November 25th no Freedom Day”
“There is a democratic political argument for lifting the emergency,” says ethics council chairman Alena Buyx. For many people there is no longer any reason for a national emergency. “But we also have a situation in which you can see that this is really going off again,” she says. Citizens could perceive November 25th as Freedom Day. “But this is not Freedom Day.” That would be – if at all – on March 20, when all corona measures are to end as currently planned. But the citizens could not tell apart, fears Buyx.
Boris Palmer has a completely different opinion. He believes that people are not that stupid if you communicate the step correctly. “The emergency is over, but it is still serious,” could be the slogan.
Most important task: booster vaccinations
For the virologist Schmidt-Chanasit, there is only one way to ensure that the corona situation can relax further: booster vaccinations. Organizing these booster vaccinations for 20 million people is a huge task. He also relies on tests. “We need them to get through the winter safely.” Finally, he criticizes the ongoing shortage of care. In hospitals, for example, this means that intensive care beds have to be deregistered.
One thing is clear: the emergency will be lifted. Peter Tschentscher knows that too. That is why he says: “I trust that the federal ministers will regulate this correctly.” He should have added the members of the Bundestag. Because they will really have the last word.