Sunday, January 02, 2022
To keep the omicron wave small
Lauterbach announces new resolutions
Omikron is spreading rapidly. In order to prevent the infection of large numbers of workers from affecting the critical infrastructure, some countries are aiming to reduce the quarantine time. Health Minister Lauterbach can also imagine this for Germany.
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach announced before the meeting between the federal and state governments on Friday that new corona resolutions would be taken. “There will definitely be new resolutions because we have to think about how we can change the quarantine regulation,” Lauterbach said in an interview with ntv. Above all, one must answer the question of how to deal with the quarantine regulation for people who work in the critical infrastructure, for example in care facilities or hospitals, according to Lauterbach.
In addition, one must prevent the omicron wave from becoming “too big”. That is why one also talks on Friday about which contact restrictions are appropriate. One could “not afford” an infection in Germany due to the high number of unvaccinated people, said the SPD politician. Regarding the upcoming Omikron wave, Lauterbach said: “The number of cases will rise very sharply and that will also affect many unvaccinated people and they are not protected. Therefore, I am very worried.”
With a view to the debate about the general compulsory vaccination in Germany, Lauterbach said that appropriate applications were being prepared and that they would be available in “a few weeks”. This is a “highly ethical” decision as to whether one is for or against compulsory vaccination. “I hope we get to it.”
Lauterbach had previously announced the purchase of one million packs of the drug Paxlovid from the US company Pfizer and the application for emergency approval. He also advised vaccination in clear words in “Bild am Sonntag”: “The first vaccination drastically reduces the risk of death after just 14 days,” he said. When meeting other people, everyone should definitely wear masks.
Acceleration of the vaccination campaign required
In countries such as Great Britain, France or the USA, a rapid increase in the number of infections can currently be observed due to the spread of the Omikron variant. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) also reported increasing numbers in Germany for the third day in a row. According to the RKI, the nationwide seven-day incidence rose to 222.7 from 220.3 the previous day. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants have been infected with the corona virus in the past seven days. However, the figures are currently not very meaningful because of the holidays and inaccurate reporting data.
FDP leader Christian Lindner and Green health politician Janosch Dahmen called for preparations to be able to vaccinate the entire population within a month. One does not know how the corona pandemic will develop, said the finance minister of “Bild am Sonntag”. “So we should soon be able to vaccinate the entire population within a month if necessary.” To do this, you have to create the necessary infrastructure and keep a corresponding amount of vaccine available.
“With a view to the third and possible fourth vaccination, it is a very important debate how we can achieve rapid vaccination of the general population within a month,” said Dahmen. That won’t work in the short term. “A central, more systematic and, above all, digital organization is very important for achieving the vaccination goals.” Both called for an acceleration of the vaccination rate, which had last collapsed over the holidays. Lindner said that 30 million more people should receive a booster vaccination in January. “In the vaccination campaign we absolutely have to pick up the pace from before Christmas,” said Dahmen. “Up to 1.5 million vaccinations per day are necessary to be better prepared for the expected omicron wave.”
“That doesn’t mean the all-clear”
A number of other countries have meanwhile reduced the isolation time for fully vaccinated people who test positive for Corona because of the drastic increase in new infections. France announced that it would lift the quarantine after five days with a negative test. Unvaccinated people would have to stay in quarantine for ten days. The background to this is reports that the course of the disease in those infected with the highly contagious omicron mutant is not that difficult. It is also feared that too many workers will otherwise be absent.
Although the data suggested that Omikron is much more contagious, it causes less serious illnesses, said Dahmen. “But that doesn’t mean the all-clear, because it’s very dangerous when a lot of people are infected at the same time.” The number of corona patients in hospitals is currently increasing again in Great Britain and the USA. The Green politician does not expect any influence on the upcoming parliamentary debate in January on the general compulsory vaccination. In any case, this should only be the last of all necessary steps to contain the pandemic.