The corona situation in Germany is coming to a head again. More and more people are getting infected, including those who have already been vaccinated. At the same time, some people still fear vaccination side effects. For example with Sahra Wagenknecht. She was one of Anne Will’s guests on ARD on Sunday evening.
A statement by soccer player Joshua Kimmich fueled the vaccination discussion. Kimmich had said in an interview that he had not yet been vaccinated. He still has a few concerns for himself personally. It is questionable whether these concerns could be dispelled by Anne Will’s discussion on Sunday evening. In any case, three of the four guests made a real effort. And then there was Sahra Wagenknecht. The left-wing politician has not yet been vaccinated. It is not entirely clear why. In the ZDF talk show Markus Lanz, she justified her decision a few weeks ago with health problems. There was no longer any question of that with Anne Will.
“Those who get vaccinated protect themselves from all things,” Wagenknecht is convinced. Vaccination should not be inflated into an act of solidarity with others. “That’s not it.” The SPD health expert, Karl Lauterbach, contradicts this. Later on in the program, he said: “Of course, this is also a social decision. You not only protect yourself, you also protect others.” He may also be thinking of children who are not yet twelve years old.
Wagenknecht doubts the statement by experts that the novel vaccines have no side effects. After all, their manufacturers are not liable for long-term consequences. Consequently, there must also be. But here too Lauterbach disagrees. It is true that the Astrazeneca vaccine caused sinus vein infections – in one in 25,000 patients. However, the new vaccines have now been inoculated half a billion times, says Lauterbach. “If there had been any side effects, we would have noticed.” Lauterbach explains the fact that the manufacturers are not liable for side effects: “These are robber pistols. If we recommend vaccination before compulsory vaccination, the state is always liable.” It’s correct. It says so in the Federal Supply Act.
“Risk of dead vaccine greater”
“I would be more likely to get vaccinated if there was a dead vaccine on the market,” says Wagenknecht – and talk guest Lauterbach clears his throat very clearly. The risk of side effects is much greater with such a vaccine because it will only be tested 30,000 times before its introduction – in contrast to 500 million people who have already received the new vaccines, explains the health expert.
Finally, Lauterbach invalidates Wagenknecht’s assumption that anyone who gets vaccinated still carries a high viral load. That is true, he admits, but the viruses can no longer multiply as much. That is why they are less dangerous. In the first six months after the second vaccination, a person who has been vaccinated twice becomes infected much less often than others.
Christina Berndt from the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” also sees it that way. The science journalist points out that vaccinated people may have played a role in the current rise in the number of infections, but a much smaller role than unvaccinated. “Just because we still have a lot of unvaccinated people, we still have such big problems.” Now it is important that vaccinated people get tested more often.
“Don’t save hospitals”
FDP health expert Marco Buschmann finally also rejects Wagenknecht’s statements and at the same time warns of overloading the health system if more and more infected patients were in the intensive care units. In that case, however, he came across the wrong person at Wagenknecht.
Because Wagenknecht is certain: the overloading of the health system is homemade. “We are blatantly dismantling intensive care beds,” she says. And she is right: in the last few months between 4500 and 5000 intensive care beds have been “closed”, as it is called in administrative German. “We should talk about what we can do to have a health system so that the normal diseases of a population of 80 million can be treated. This now also includes Corona,” says Wagenknecht. And further: “It is a scandal that after a year and a half of Corona we have fewer hospitals, fewer intensive care beds and fewer nursing staff.”
Buschmann from the FDP explains the shutdown of intensive care beds with the lack of nurses. He therefore advocates that more qualified people from abroad should come to Germany because otherwise we would not be able to cope with demographic change. In contrast to Lauterbach, he speaks out against the 2G regulation, which gives people a false sense of security. On the other hand, he relies on the booster vaccination, i.e. the booster vaccination, especially in nursing homes and retirement homes. “We should reopen the vaccination centers and then invite the elderly first,” he demands. And that has to happen very quickly now.
“Take concerns seriously”
Wagenknecht doesn’t think much of the 2G rules either. “It’s the question of who is infecting whom here,” she says, pointing out that people who have been vaccinated repeatedly infect each other.
Science journalist Christina Berndt cannot understand this objection. “It is logical that there are infections among people who have been vaccinated, because 80 percent of the population are vaccinated. If one hundred percent were vaccinated, there would only be infections among those who have been vaccinated.” Anyone who, like Wagenknecht, sees the dangers of vaccinations because they are uncomfortable with all of this, has a “completely shifted risk perception,” says the journalist – and adds: “Corona infection is more dangerous in adults than a vaccination.”
The willingness to vaccinate has decreased, that is obvious. Many unvaccinated people in Germany have similar concerns as Wagenknecht. And all the guests of the talk show agree: Nobody should stigmatize these people, you have to take their concerns seriously. Because the “epidemic of national importance” will soon be history. That is why as many people as possible who have concerns have to be convinced as quickly as possible.