Saturday, January 08, 2022
“It’s not over”
Lauterbach wants to expand vaccination infrastructure
Health Minister Lauterbach warns that new, severe corona outbreaks could occur at any time. The vaccination infrastructure should continue to ensure that citizens can be vaccinated as soon as possible. New vaccines should also come onto the market more quickly.
In view of the threat of further corona waves, the federal government wants to enable vaccines to be developed more quickly. “If we get a variant that is as contagious as Omikron, but much more deadly, we should be able to develop and produce a new vaccine in the shortest possible time,” said Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach of “Welt am Sonntag”. The federal government is preparing for this “with high pressure”.
“We are currently in the process of creating a structure for this,” said the SPD politician. “We need a permanent infrastructure.” It would be sensible to design the vaccination infrastructure in such a way that the population can be vaccinated as quickly as possible at any time, added the SPD politician. “Germany is currently in a vulnerable phase. Another serious outbreak could occur at any time,” he warned. “We must not fall into the naive assumption that it will be over soon. It is not over.”
Vaccination should bring the turning point
Lauterbach expects noticeable effects in the fight against the corona pandemic through the introduction of a general vaccination requirement. “You have to accept that even with duty you will never reach everyone.” But he is “convinced that there is a large group of unvaccinated people who we can induce to vaccinate by compulsory vaccination”. Lauterbach emphasized that his hope was that society would be relatively well protected by the mandatory vaccination. “We must no longer find ourselves in a situation in which a summer is deceptively good, but new variants surprise us in autumn – and that without the broad majority of the population being vaccinated. Because then everything would start all over again.”
The minister reiterated that the vaccination requirement was necessary despite the lower risk of serious illnesses with the new Omikron variant. “An omicron infection does not necessarily make you immune to the next virus variant. The belief that the omicron variant is the end of the pandemic is naive.”
The Bundestag should vote on mandatory vaccination without group specifications. However, there is unlikely to be a quick decision. The first thing under discussion is an “orientation debate” in January. The SPD aims to conclude a legislative process “in the first quarter”, ie by the end of March. Lauterbach claims to be working “as a member of parliament” on a proposal for a general vaccination requirement for over 18-year-olds.