It should be a little more relaxed over the holidays, but by December 28th at the latest, the federal states had to tighten their corona rules. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the prime ministers of the federal states agreed on this at their meeting on the Tuesday before Christmas. The new rules at a glance:
Contact restrictions also for vaccinated persons
From December 28th, private get-togethers for vaccinated and convalescents will only be allowed with a maximum of ten people. Children up to the age of 14 are excluded. As soon as an unvaccinated person takes part in the meeting, the rule is even stricter: Then the meeting is limited to your own household and two other people from another household.
Clubs and discos, sporting events
Clubs and discos must be closed, dance events are prohibited. This has already been the case in many federal states, now it applies nationwide. Sports, cultural and similar major events should take place without spectators. That means: Even supraregional sporting events such as soccer games had to take place without spectators by December 28th at the latest.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
Gathering is prohibited on December 31st and January 1st. The sale of fireworks is banned this year so as not to burden the hospitals even more.
Vaccinations
The federal government wants to achieve a further 30 million booster vaccinations by the end of January. That would mean three quarters of citizens in Germany would be vaccinated three times, said Scholz. An intermediate goal before the planned mandatory vaccination is to increase the vaccination rate to 80 percent if possible. Currently, at least 70.8 percent are double-vaccinated or have received the single vaccination from Johnson & Johnson.
In order to achieve these goals, the vaccination campaign will be continued “with undiminished strength” also during the Christmas days and between the years.
In mid-November, the federal government had set itself a target of 30 million vaccinations by the end of the year. This mark was exceeded on Boxing Day, as Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) announced. What is disputed, however, is the point in time from which these vaccinations are counted. The government announces the federal-state round of November 18. However, all experts understood Chancellor Scholz to mean that December 1 was meant as the starting point, the day on which the federal government’s new crisis team began its work. If the calculation was made from December 1, the 30 million mark would no longer have been attainable by December 31.
Critical Infrastructure
The federal and state governments are calling on electricity and water suppliers, as well as the police, fire brigade and healthcare system, to immediately review and adapt their respective operational pandemic plans and to ensure that they can be activated at short notice. The newly established crisis team will support this.
How the federal states implement the resolutions
The resolutions had to be implemented in the federal states by December 28th at the latest. Some federal states had already implemented all or at least some of the measures by Christmas.
For example, in Bremen Clubs and discos have been closed since Christmas Eve, dance events are prohibited. Also in Hamburg the stricter rules came into effect on December 24th. in force, including the contact restrictions. In Saxony-Anhalt Clubs and discos have not been allowed to open since December 23rd.
Since Monday, December 27th, also apply in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg the tightened rules completely. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania The contact restrictions have been in effect since Christmas Eve, cinemas, theaters, museums, swimming pools or other leisure facilities across the country must also close from Monday because the state’s own Corona traffic light has been red for several days.
On Tuesday, December 28th, tightened Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia their corona rules. In Rhineland-Palatinate empty spectator stands have been mandatory since December 23rd for national sports, cultural and other major events. From Tuesday on, the more extensive contact restrictions in the private sector will also apply. In Saxony Due to the high number of infections, contact restrictions have been in place since November 19, as other countries are now introducing. On December 28, further tightening came into force there, including an FFP2 mask requirement in closed public facilities and for body-friendly services. The nocturnal curfew, which has existed in Saxony since November, for particularly affected corona hotspots will be continued.
How it goes on now
The Chancellor and the country group will meet again on January 7, 2022 and discuss further measures. It should also be clarified whether new laws are necessary.