Status: 25.10.2021 4:11 p.m.
The ethics council and the federal government hope that national player Kimmich will now be vaccinated. He had a role model function and was a victim of “false information”, so ethics council chairman Buyx. As an athlete, he also has a high risk.
The chairman of the German Ethics Council, Alena Buyx, hopes that Joshua Kimmich will decide to have a corona vaccination after all. The German national soccer player of FC Bayern Munich, who justified his previous rejection with a lack of long-term studies, was “caught up in misinformation. He is very badly advised,” said Buyx to the broadcaster Sky.
It was Kimmich’s personal decision, but the 26-year-old was a role model that millions of people would listen to. “It is now a matter of clarifying well that there is no such thing as long-term effects. I must also be concerned that people do not think now because they are concerned,” said Buyx. It would be desirable if Kimmich could get advice again and “then also decide to vaccinate”. Kimmich still has an incredibly high risk of being infected with the delta variant, and “there are professional athletes who have taken months to get fit again,” said Buyx.
Federal government hopes to rethink
The federal government is also hoping that Bayern professional Joshua Kimmich will still be vaccinated. All questions are of course justified, said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. However, there are “clear and convincing answers” from national and international experts on aspects such as the type and effect of the vaccines or possible consequences of the vaccine. He therefore hopes “that Joshua Kimmich lets all this information work on him again and then maybe can decide in favor of the vaccination,” said Seibert.
Seibert also pointed out that Kimmich was a footballer, “looking at the millions”. He would have a “role model” for a vaccination. “How we in Germany can organize our coexistence in the pandemic” depends crucially on the number of people vaccinated.
Corona vaccine “researched much better” than others
A spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health emphasized that the vaccination was an “individual decision”. In view of the high number of people who have been vaccinated, a lot is already known about the rare side effects of the vaccines and the corona vaccine is “much better researched” than others. According to experts, side effects “always occur within a few weeks after the vaccination”.
The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO), Thomas Mertens, had previously pointed out that side effects occurring late after vaccination “do not occur or are extremely rare”.
Interior Ministry promoted vaccination with sports associations
The spokesman for the Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, said that he had been convinced “that vaccination is the only sustainable way out of the pandemic” for months. The Ministry has therefore tried to advertise the vaccination through the sports associations. Ultimately, however, each individual must decide this. “There is no compulsory vaccination in Germany.”
Kimmich had confirmed on the Sky station at the weekend that he had not yet been vaccinated. The 26-year-old said he had personal concerns “especially when it comes to the lack of long-term studies. But he is “aware of his responsibility”, adheres to hygiene measures and is tested every two to three days. Kimmich emphasized that he was “not a corona denier or opponent of vaccinations” and that it was “very possible that I will be vaccinated soon”.