Status: 11.07.2021 03:41 a.m.
SPD leader Esken and Green party leader Göring-Eckardt have called for greater efforts to protect young people from the corona virus. Bundestag President Schäuble spoke out in favor of vaccinating children and adolescents.
Politicians from several parties have called for better protection of young people from the coronavirus. For example, SPD leader Saskia Esken told the newspapers of the Funke media group: “We must not lose any more time believing that children and young people are not at risk.” Due to the lack of vaccination protection, the number of infections in children and adolescents is twice as high as in the age group over 50 years. “The health as well as the educational and development opportunities of the young generation must now be in the foreground,” demanded Esken. Long-Covid consequences such as fatigue phenomena could prevent young people from having a good future for a long time.
Esken called for solidarity on the part of vaccinated adults towards children and adolescents. “The younger generation has now for more than a year renounced a lot out of consideration for the older generation, now they can expect the same consideration from the predominantly vaccinated older adults.” Hygiene rules should continue to be observed, for example, in order to protect children and adolescents who cannot currently be vaccinated.
Major events with thousands of visitors, such as football, where “there is terrifyingly little willingness to be disciplined in hygiene”, should not be accepted, says Esken. Tests for those returning from travel and for those who have not been vaccinated in factories should continue to be maintained.
Göring-Eckardt looks to autumn
Green parliamentary leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt also spoke out in favor of greater efforts to protect children and young people. “We are announcing a second Corona autumn, and again the federal government is doing far too little to secure daycare centers and schools,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
A “daycare and school summit is necessary so that this planning failure does not repeat itself”. With a view to the spread of the delta variant, there is no more time to be lost. At the summit, the federal and state governments should work with experts from medicine and education to develop guidelines for the time after the holidays, write Göring-Eckardt and the Green MPs Kordula Schulz-Asche and Janosch Dahmen in a position paper that is available to the Funke newspapers . “This also includes at least the retention, or better still, the expansion of regular tests in schools and day-care centers, uniform mask rules and the targeted recording of the age-specific incidence in the districts and urban districts.” In addition, the installation of filter systems must progress faster.
Schäuble for vaccinating the young
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble also warned against renewed school closings after the summer holidays in view of the increasing number of corona infections. Closing daycare centers, schools and universities is anything but harmless. “The restrictions for the children and young people are massive,” he made clear in the “Bild am Sonntag”. “And before we risk having to close schools again, I am in favor of wearing masks in closed rooms. It would be terrible for me if we came to a lockdown that affects the youngest,” said Schäuble.
Schäuble also spoke out in favor of vaccinating young people. “You should vaccinate younger people if they want it. If we can avoid restrictions in school operations by vaccinating 12 to 17-year-olds, then that is a weighty argument,” emphasized Schäuble. So far, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) has only recommended corona vaccinations for young people with certain previous illnesses. The STIKO justified this with the low risk of serious illness in this age group.