Wednesday May 12, 2021
“The virus will stay”
Spahn: A good mood shouldn’t lead to high spirits
The pandemic is losing momentum, the vaccination campaign is picking up speed. That leads to broad confidence. Nevertheless, Health Minister Spahn urges discipline. The question of what summer will be like will be decided in the coming weeks.
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has called for a “balance of confidence and caution” in view of the weakening infection rate in Germany. “It’s good that we’re confident and in a good mood. But we have to be careful that it doesn’t turn into high spirits,” he said in Berlin. However, the progress of the vaccination campaign is undoubtedly a cause for optimism. “Vaccination takes the fright out of the pandemic,” said Spahn.
According to the current vaccination rate monitoring by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), more than 27.7 million people in Germany are currently vaccinated, which corresponds to a rate of 33.3 percent. The rate after second vaccinations is just under 9.6 percent, i.e. more than 8.0 million fully vaccinated people.
“Everything is going in the right direction,” said Spahn. Nevertheless, he warned against false illusions. “The virus will stay,” he said. However, the citizens would have to deal with it in their own hands. “Either you get vaccinated or you get infected,” said the minister: “In case of doubt, I would recommend trying to achieve immunity through vaccination and not through infection.” In addition, Spahn urged social discipline for the most carefree summer possible. Although the number of infections, the positive rate and the intensive workload are falling, this is only a snapshot. Therefore he warned against too many contacts. “The question of how the summer will be will be decided in the next four to five weeks,” said Spahn.
Even the President of the RKI, Lothar Wieler, urges caution despite the progress made in fighting the pandemic. The most important parameters speak for an easing of the situation. “But with all the optimism we must not forget: the pandemic is not over,” he said. In this regard, Wieler referred to the most recent data. Accordingly, of the 412 regions identified by the RKI (including the rural districts, independent cities and the Berlin districts), currently 219 regions are still above the mark of 100 newly registered corona infections within seven days per 100,000 inhabitants. “That is the majority of the districts,” emphasized Wieler.
According to Wieler, other aspects also speak against hasty opening steps. The outbreaks in schools have “as expected” increased again. In addition, Wieler pointed out that more than 1000 people die each week from Covid 19 disease. That is why the RKI President continued to urge compliance with the AHA + L rules and once again encouraged people to take advantage of test offers.
Previously, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek had also highlighted the successes in fighting pandemics. “We have come a long way in fighting the pandemic,” said the CDU politician. This is “also a merit of science”. She expressly praised the Türeci / Şahin couple, under whose leadership the Mainz company Biontech developed a vaccine against the coronavirus.
Together with Spahn, Karliczek announced a new funding program that both ministries have launched. The aim of this is to prevent serious illnesses and to develop effective therapies, according to Spahn. “An effective therapy takes the horror of Covid 19 disease.” According to Spahn, the Federal Ministry of Health is investing 300 million euros in the program, which is to include a clinical study with thousands of test subjects.
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