Vaccination and testing strategies are a disaster, but anger and aggression against doctors, paramedics and helpers hit the wrong people.
Everyone knows these stories now, either from their own experience or from accounts of friends, acquaintances, colleagues or relatives: Stories of ice-cold hands and feet, growling stomachs and squeezing bladders while standing in line for hours in front of a corona vaccination station. The letters from readers that reach the SZ every day reflect only a fraction of the drama that has been going on for a few weeks. They describe a chaos that until recently could not have been imagined in a highly organized country. Brazil and India – of course, maybe also the USA, but not Germany.
What has happened every day since the fourth wave and booster recommendation in front of the few remaining vaccination centers and those that are now being rushed out of the ground, is now also repeated in front of the rapid test stations. 3 G and 2 G plus, but also tens of thousands of new infections every day in the greater Munich area alone lead to the next overload. Because free corona tests were canceled in October, many providers shut down. And so in an uncomfortable late autumn we stand in line, shivering and with red noses and ears, here and there, hoping that someone will hand us a hot tea – and to make matters worse, please don’t get infected with the woman in front or the man behind.
Prosperous citizens who are already lacking patience in line at the supermarket checkout or who have spoiled the day when the S-Bahn is delayed, a lot is demanded these days. So it’s no wonder that some people lose their nerve and that the tone at vaccination and test stations is getting rougher. The anger that breaks out there hits the wrong people. Paramedics, doctors and other helpers are not responsible for the fact that the corona infrastructure was dismantled even when the fourth wave reared up and afterwards countermeasures were taken too late and only half-heartedly. Instead of ranting about each other, we should remember our strengths from the first Corona wave: solidarity and solidarity.