The state government is now trying to catch up on what it has failed to do in the past few weeks and months. It is doubtful whether that will be enough to reduce the number of infections in Bavaria.
After weeks of hesitation and watching, the state government has finally taken measures to perhaps avert the looming disaster. The closure of clubs and pubs, but also the reduction in the number of spectators at public events, are of course much too late. And the extensive lockdown in the particularly affected districts will expire in three weeks.
That will not be enough to permanently reduce the number of infections to a tolerable level again. A look across the border to Austria shows how things could, in the worst case, continue here in winter, even if this is currently still considered legally excluded: Lockdown for everyone and general vaccination from February.
It almost seems like an irony that Prime Minister Markus Söder quoted the Bavarian Ethics Council when presenting the Corona measures on Friday, which in its statement on Wednesday at least had not ruled out a general vaccination requirement as the very last resort in the fight against Corona. Because the Ethics Council had already warned the state government urgently in June of a fourth wave in winter and in particular urged the immediate preparation of booster vaccinations because the vaccination protection would decrease.
Both Söder and his Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek, ignored this warning. The booster vaccinations could have been planned in the long term. But now the number of old people is increasing again and it will be weeks before at least those who want them get a third vaccination. That is clearly a government failure.
Otherwise you have to give Söder credit for being just as carefree as most of society, who just wanted to take a break from the virus. Corona restrictions would have been difficult to enforce during the vacation period, especially before the federal election. Söder grossly miscalculated – like so many politicians, journalists and some virus experts. But he must by no means admit that, because it just doesn’t fit the doctrine of infallibility, which apart from the Vatican only exists in the Munich State Chancellery.