Corona News: Vaccination quota of 80 percent – Federal government postpones vaccination target

Stand: 5:10 a.m. | Reading time: 5 minutes

D.he federal government is postponing its goal of achieving a rate of 80 percent for initial vaccinations. Now the government wants to create this quota by the end of January if possible, as a government spokesman for the “Picture on sunday“Said. January 7th had previously been mentioned. On this day, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to discuss the fight against the corona pandemic with the state ministers for the next time.

61.4 million people in Germany are currently vaccinated at least once, which makes up 73.8 percent of the total population. Around 5 million more people would have to receive an initial vaccination for the goal. In addition, the government had announced that 30 million vaccinations should be given by the end of the year. According to information from “Bild am Sonntag”, this goal can possibly be achieved on Monday.

Compulsory vaccination for everyone should be on the agenda in Parliament in the first week of session of the new year. According to SPD parliamentary deputy Dirk Wiese, there will be “a first debate on compulsory vaccination” in the Bundestag at the beginning of January. The first week of the meeting begins on January 10th. For a legally secure regulation some “not easy questions in detail”, said Wiese of the “Bild am Sonntag”. This applies in particular to the question of when someone legally loses his vaccination status and a refresher is necessary.

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Hospitalization incidence

All developments in the ticker:

5:10 a.m.: RKI reports 10,100 new infections – the incidence drops to 220.7

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reports 10,100 new corona infections within 24 hours. That is 19,248 fewer cases than on Sunday a week ago, when 29,348 positive tests were reported. The nationwide seven-day incidence drops to 220.7 from 242.9 the previous day. 88 other people died related to the virus. This increases the number of reported deaths within one day to 110,364. In total, more than 6.99 million corona tests have so far been positive in Germany. The RKI points out that fewer tests are carried out during the holidays and at the turn of the year and therefore fewer cases are likely to be reported.

05:05 a.m.: Retail fears another blow to inner cities from Omikron

The German Retail Association (HDE) fears that the spread of the particularly contagious Corona variant Omikron will deal another blow to retailers in German city centers. “If the incidence figures soar, fewer people will probably come to the city centers again,” said the managing director of the German Trade Association (HDE) Stefan Genth of the dpa news agency. Many vaccinated and convalescent people who could actually go shopping would then probably think twice about the way to the pedestrian zones.

3:24 a.m.: 6300 flights have already been canceled worldwide on Christmas days

Over 6,000 flights worldwide were canceled or canceled over Christmas. As data from the website Flightaware.com showed on Saturday evening, almost 2,800 flights worldwide were canceled on Saturday, of which almost 1,000 were destined for or started in the USA. There were also more than 8,000 delays. On Friday there were already 2,400 cancellations and 11,000 delays. So far, around 1,100 flight cancellations have been recorded for Sunday.

According to the airlines, the many flight cancellations in one of the main travel times of the year are due to the fact that many pilots, flight attendants and other employees are infected with the corona virus or are in quarantine.

2:00 a.m.: Demonstration against Corona measures in Koblenz

On Christmas Day, around 600 people came together for a “walk” in downtown Koblenz to demonstrate against the Corona policy. The meeting was not announced, reported the police, but it had been classified as an assembly by the assembly authority. In addition, a participant assaulted police officers. When the demonstrator was identified, around 15 other people showed solidarity with him. After a “short use” of pepper spray, the situation calmed down. A total of four criminal proceedings have been initiated.

1:00 a.m.: Omikron in the USA – number of new infections higher than with Delta Wave

The Omikron variant is on the advance in the USA: The average number of new infections reported per day in the past week has now exceeded the maximum value of the violent delta wave in summer. If this value was around 160,000 at the beginning of September, an average of 175,000 new infections per day were recently reported. In the USA, the omicron variant is dominant. In many places, records are being broken with a view to the new infections reported daily. Numerous flights were canceled over Christmas because the airlines lacked staff.

The number of people who are sick with Covid-19 and have to be treated in hospital is significantly lower than in summer. However, the situation could get worse – millions of people in the US are not vaccinated.

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00:01 am: Teachers’ associations: Do not rule out distance teaching

Because of the spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus, teacher associations are warning against sticking to face-to-face teaching at all costs. “The Omikron variant worsens the pandemic situation massively – also in schools,” said the chairman of the Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE), Udo Beckmann, the editorial network Germany (RND / Sonntag). “The motto of politics should definitely no longer be that there must be face-to-face teaching at all costs,” he added. Beckmann called for the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs to meet quickly in order to coordinate with the virologists what is responsible with regard to the health of teachers and students. He emphasized: “In this context, alternating and distance teaching should not be taboo.”