Status: 04.12.2021 6:55 a.m.
From today, anyone who has their corona vaccination refreshed is exempt from the 2G-Plus rules that apply in Lower Saxony. The Ministry of Health has now announced this. Criticism comes from the opposition.
In order to gain access to facilities, companies and events, these people only need proof of a fully completed series of vaccinations and the booster vaccination. They can be proven with the digital vaccination certificate or the yellow vaccination pass. “The obligation for additional testing within the framework of 2G-Plus does not apply,” said the ministry in a statement.
There is no obligation to test immediately after the booster vaccination
The exemption from the obligation to test therefore applies from the time of the booster vaccination. For people who have received the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, the second vaccination is crucial and counts as a refresher within the meaning of the new regulation. This also applies to those who have recovered who have already received a second vaccination. However, those who have recovered once vaccinated must undergo further testing. The test obligation for visitors to old people’s and nursing homes, hospitals and other medical facilities also continues to apply. According to the ministry, you have to produce a negative test certificate even after a booster vaccination.
Regulation will be changed next week
The Lower Saxony corona regulation will be changed in the coming week with the new regulation, but the exemption for affected persons should be implemented nationwide from Saturday. Anyone who has already received a booster vaccination and does not have a test from Saturday is, strictly speaking, violating the current obligation to test set out in the ordinance – but this will be tolerated until the change comes into force.
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The rule is to relieve test capacities
The country is responding by relieving scientific findings, “according to which the risk of infection with and transmission of the coronavirus after receiving the booster vaccination is extremely low,” said the ministry. In addition, the new rule is intended to relieve the test capacities. The country regrets that it is still difficult to get tests in many parts of the country, said government spokeswoman Anke Pörksen. She also announced that the state government was also considering the 2G-Plus rule overall – although this meant a high level of security.
Because sees significantly higher protection
Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) said after the Bund-Länder-Round on Thursday that the state government was examining the measure. He justified this with an increased vaccination protection for people with a third vaccination. This is at such a high level that the risk of vaccinated people passing the virus on to one another is “probably only negligibly small,” said Weil. Lower Saxony’s Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) had also spoken out in favor of a short-term correction.
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“Half-baked short-circuit reaction”: criticism from the Greens
Martina Wenker, President of the Medical Association of Lower Saxony, called the lifting of the compulsory test helpful. “Only effective vaccination can get us out of the pandemic,” she said. In contrast, the Greens in the Landtag opposition see the government’s U-turn as a “half-baked short-circuit reaction”. You only alleviate the test problem for a minority, said parliamentary group leader Julia Willie Hamburg on Friday. The majority of those vaccinated must continue to be tested in many places. The offers for booster vaccinations for refresher are limited. In addition, tests in the fourth corona wave are the central tool to prevent the virus from spreading. “It is known that people who have been vaccinated can pass the virus on.”
More than a million Lower Saxony boosted
According to the Robert Koch Institute, 1.1 million people in Lower Saxony have already received their booster vaccination on Friday. That corresponds to about 14 percent of the country’s population. In the past two weeks, the number has more than doubled.
2G in retail probably from next week
With the Resolutions of the federal-state summit Weil was satisfied on Thursday. He welcomed the stricter corona rules that were decided at the digital meeting of the country leaders with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and her designated successor Olaf Scholz (SPD). In essence, the cautious course of Lower Saxony was confirmed, said Weil afterwards. According to the federal-state resolution, the 2G rule for retail will come into force nationwide. Exceptions to this are shops for everyday needs, such as grocery stores, drug stores and pharmacies. Weil said that this decision should be incorporated into the state regulation in the coming week. Then it should be clear from which day this should apply.
Other important points of the decision:
- 2G in retail: Unvaccinated people are only allowed to visit shops for daily needs such as supermarkets
- Contact restrictions for unvaccinated people: Private meetings are limited to your own household and a maximum of two people from another household. An exception applies to children up to and including 14 years of age
- Mask requirement in schools for all grade levels
- From the threshold of 350 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, clubs and discos have to close
- The vaccination status is to be limited in time, according to Merkel, the EU will discuss this for nine months. Booster vaccinations can extend it accordingly
- 30 million more corona vaccinations until Christmas are given out as a target for Germany’s vaccination campaign
- In the future, dentists, pharmacists and nurses will also be vaccinated against the virus
- Nationwide there is a ban on arriving and gathering on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, as well as a ban on fireworks “in public places to be defined by the municipalities”
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Large events: Significantly fewer spectators
According to the resolution, the number of spectators for sports, cultural and other major events will be significantly reduced in the future. A maximum of 30 to 50 percent of the space can be used – indoors but no more than 5,000 visitors, outdoors a maximum of 15,000. In addition, medical masks must be worn, 2G applies anyway. However, participants can also be prescribed 2G-Plus, i.e. an additional current corona test. In countries with a high incidence of infections, events must be canceled if possible and sporting events carried out as a so-called ghost game.
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Compulsory vaccination: Ethics Council should make recommendations
A general compulsory corona vaccination, for which Weil had also spoken out, should first be discussed and decided in the newly elected Bundestag. It could take effect from next February, said Chancellor Merkel. The ethics council should prepare a recommendation for this by the end of the year. The state parliament in Hanover is to meet for a special session next Tuesday. According to Prime Minister Weil, the topics are whether the country should make use of the state opening clause in the Infection Protection Act and how warning level 3 should be designed.
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Corona in Lower Saxony – current reports
