Monday, July 5th, 2021
Warning against delta variant
Merkel calls for a vaccination rate of 80 percent
Because the so-called delta variant is more contagious, the vaccination rate must also be higher to stop it from spreading. Chancellor Merkel named 80 percent as the target. But: The number of hospitalizations is not that high, according to Merkel.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn have pointed out the importance of vaccinations in view of the rapidly spreading, more aggressive delta variant of the coronavirus. According to information from the German Press Agency, Merkel warned from participants in the last regular deliberations of the CDU leadership before the summer break in Berlin that the vaccination quota should be 80 percent.
Unvaccinated children in particular would still be vulnerable in the fall, said the CDU politician. At the same time, she pointed out that hospitalization for the Delta variant is not so high in other countries. In the online consultations of the CDU board that followed after the presidium, Merkel said, according to information from participants, that the subject of schools would “have top priority” in the development of the corona situation.
According to the Robert Koch Institute and the Federal Ministry of Health, 56.5 percent of the German population had received at least one vaccination dose by Sunday, so 38.9 percent were fully vaccinated. If the vaccination protection has been fully developed, the vaccinated have a high level of protection against hospital treatment, even with Delta, according to the current state of knowledge.
Spahn: “The rate of vaccination is decreasing”
According to the information given by the participants, Spahn said in the presidium that vaccination was going well, but the pace was slowing. In the vaccination centers, the appointments are not immediately gone, but are available for a while. The CDU politician spoke out in favor of combining vaccination offers with activities of the people, for example a visit to the stadium. Being vaccinated must make a difference to not being vaccinated.
Booster vaccinations could be offered in the fall due to capacity, said Spahn. With regard to the reporting obligations, new parameters would increasingly be included in the statistics, for example not only the occupancy of intensive care beds, but also the hospital stay. The topic of the corona development in schools will come with force after the summer holidays, so Spahn.
Hesse’s Prime Minister and CDU Federal Vice-President Volker Bouffier was quoted by the participants as saying that schools must remain open at all costs. There should be no speculation about this. According to participants, the deputy CDU chairman and Baden-Württemberg interior minister Thomas Strobl said that he was depressed by the corona situation. There are full stadiums, the “Ballermann” on Mallorca is open, planes are filled to the last seat. From an infection point of view, this is dangerous.
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