Corona measures
Scholz about Corona: Always have to be ready to rethink
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) speaks to the delegates at his party’s federal party conference. Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The coronavirus is flexible – then politics with countermeasures must be too. At least that’s what Chancellor Scholz thinks and warns of “red lines” in the fight against pandemics.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has advocated being flexible in taking countermeasures in the fight against the corona pandemic.
«There must be no red lines, this pandemic has really shown us that. We always have to be ready to rethink, if the circumstances require, ”he told the“ Bild am Sonntag ”. Then you have to act quickly and decisively.
“We have just made a lot of money available so that the hospitals can offer enough intensive care beds despite the many corona patients,” said Scholz. “The firefighting ban on New Year’s Eve is also aimed at ensuring that no additional injuries are burdened on the emergency rooms.” The SPD politician did not categorically reject a Christmas lockdown. In response to a corresponding question, he said: “The federal and state governments have just taken very rigid measures. We will check on a daily basis how they are being implemented and whether they are sufficient. “
Concern about Omicron
Above all, the new virus variant Omikron is causing concern. It is possibly even more contagious than the currently dominant highly infectious Delta variant. Experts expect the virus to spread quickly in Germany and – like politicians – call for vaccinations and booster vaccinations. As of Friday, around 17.7 million people have now received a booster vaccination – that’s around 21.3 percent of the population.
On Friday, the Federal Council and the Bundestag decided to make vaccinations mandatory for health workers, but work is also being carried out on a general mandatory vaccination. Scholz had suggested that the Bundestag decide on it and that the members of parliament should vote without being forced into a parliamentary group. For a long time, leading politicians had actually ruled out compulsory vaccination.
According to Scholz, Germany is not divided into vaccinated and unvaccinated people. «The vast majority of citizens have had themselves vaccinated. Many more want to do it soon because they have overcome their concerns, ”he said. «And of those who do not get vaccinated, there are very few who believe that they have to demonstrate their resistance to the vaccinations with martial torch marches and threaten politicians who come out for citizens around the clock Lay stuff. “
Scholz: “Also Chancellor of the Unvaccinated”
Scholz protested: “I want to hold the country together. And so I am also the chancellor of the unvaccinated. ” Having different opinions does not mean division. «We can also argue. I am convinced that most of the unvaccinated people find these torchlight rallies just as repugnant as I do. ” A few days ago, opponents of the Corona policy marched with torches in front of the home of the Saxon Health Minister Petra Köpping (SPD).
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) told the newspapers of the Funke media group with a view to the protests against Corona measures: “Right-wing extremists and Reich citizens are trying to enforce the movement in order to pursue their own goals.” Unfortunately, the bourgeois demonstration participants did not distinguish themselves enough from it. At the same time, fiber warned against a further radicalization of the so-called lateral thinker movement: The propensity for violence is increasing, the lateral thinkers are becoming more radical. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has now significantly intensified its observation of all extremist sections of the movement. “We keep a close eye on these people.”
Booster for the homeless and refugees
The Paritätische Gesamtverband meanwhile called for more accessible booster vaccinations for the homeless and refugees. “Whether homeless, refugees in collective accommodation or elderly people in nursing homes – it is imperative that a lot more target group-specific education and, above all, outreach and low-threshold vaccination offers”, said General Manager Ulrich Schneider of the editorial network Germany (RND).
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to win more Hartz IV recipients for a corona vaccination. He had asked the Federal Employment Agency and the federal states to “write to the adults with basic security benefits and to inform them about vaccination offers on site,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. There are already many campaigns in which mobile vaccination teams vaccinated on the premises or in the rooms of the job center.