Corona hits Germany unprepared once again. Scientists had already warned of a fourth wave in the summer. Since then, politics has simply failed to take advantage of many opportunities.
The Munich Christmas market has been canceled. Children are wearing masks again. Doctors and nurses are in despair. In the summer, Germany believed that it was on the mend, out of the pandemic, back to normal without lockdowns, without masks and elbow salutes. And now this disaster. More new corona infections than in December 2020, sad records every day. How did it come to this – and how do you get out of it?
The prime ministers of the federal states are trying on Thursday at a conference with the incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel to turn things around and break the fourth wave. On the same day, the Bundestag is to adopt the new corona measures for the traffic light parties. Everyday life becomes difficult, especially for those who have not been vaccinated. But is that enough?
It is already clear that clinics will soon have to struggle even more. There is a cruel incorruptible mathematics. Of the 50,000 newly infected people recently reported in one day, 350 will have to go to the intensive care unit and 200 will die, as Lothar Wieler, the President of the Robert Koch Institute, calculated. Overcrowded hospitals are relocating more and more patients. Treatments are postponed. Fear of a desperate situation, of competition for intensive care beds, of many deaths is growing.
Deficits wherever you look
There is now talk of “political failure”, of federal-state hiccups, a lack of leadership and ignoring the science that has been warning of a powerful return of the virus for months. Corona has relentlessly exposed the state’s weaknesses, said Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the beginning of the week. “Deficits in precaution and foresight, backlogs in digitization, stuck processes in intertwined institutions, all of this contributes to the fact that opportunities are not exhausted, that it often takes too long before we can implement what we have already recognized as correct. “
It was probably a mixture of too much self-confidence, summer carelessness, a fear of further division in society – or of the anger of the citizens in the Bundestag election – and the German tendency to endless discussion, which contributed to the fact that politicians postponed decisions or zigzagged ran. The bottom line is that a lot has gone wrong for months.
The vaccination campaign got off to a bumpy start
When 101-year-old Edith Kwoizalla received the first corona vaccination on December 26, 2020, the euphoria was great. But then the vaccine was scarce, there followed vaccination envy and arguments and a lot of uncertainty about the vaccine from Astrazeneca. The vaccination was advertised only quietly. For the “Sleeves up” campaign, celebrities were photographed with plasters on their upper arms. But not only the advertising medium Günther Jauch was not vaccinated at all. He contracted Corona before his turn.
The vaccination goal was not enough
At first it was said that 60 to 70 percent would be needed to contain the virus. That roughly corresponded to the number of people who expressed interest in the Corona syringe in surveys. This quota has been reached. But the delta variant of the virus is so much more contagious that 80 to 85 percent would be necessary. Countries like Portugal have done it. In Germany, however, a lot of unwillingness would have to be convinced. Some politicians seem resigned. “I have the impression that part of the population can no longer be convinced,” said Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow at the beginning of November.
A vaccination requirement was excluded
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn were not the only ones to commit quickly. There seemed to be a consensus that nobody should be forced to vaccinate. Only Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder said in spring 2020: “I would be very open to mandatory vaccination.” Instead, it was argued whether disadvantages for unvaccinated people are reasonable. Now it’s hard to stray from the iron line even for individual groups like nursing home workers. France made a different decision and is in a better position.
It was an election campaign and it was summer
When there was finally enough vaccine for everyone in early summer, the corona numbers also fell. At the same time, nobody wanted to stir up new fears in the election campaign before the federal elections on September 26th. When it became clear in Israel that the vaccination would only provide reliable protection for about six months, booster vaccinations were also launched in Germany at the beginning of August. However, the Standing Vaccination Commission only recommended this for old people and certain groups. It was not until the beginning of November that it suddenly became clear: boosters for everyone, and fast.
Testing only for a fee
Hundreds of test centers closed in the summer because the rush subsided. Then it was decided that from October 11th tests should no longer be free – to save billions in costs and to put pressure on those who hesitated to vaccinate. When the number of infections rose far more drastically than the vaccination quota, the role backwards followed on November 13th.
Is the epidemic over?
It was the CDU politician Spahn who spoke publicly on October 18th of the end of the “epidemic situation of national scope”, with reference to the only moderate risk for vaccinated people. Despite rising corona numbers, the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP also emphasized that the state of emergency is no longer appropriate. A protest came promptly. “This is also a wrong decision in the matter,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU). However, a correction is now difficult on this issue as well.
The power vacuum after the election
Who did what wrong, when and how, is now again the subject of violent party disputes. “The traffic light’s corona policy is extremely dangerous,” said Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) of “Bild am Sonntag”. “The decision-making speed of the new coalition in Berlin is too slow.” Only, the new coalition does not even exist – the previous government is in office, even if only executive. For a long time, the prime ministers were at odds about how urgent a conference with the incumbent Chancellor was. Only last week, the North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) announced the federal-state meeting.
Now the traffic light partners are wrestling with the corona rate and are frantically sharpening their plans. Now 3G is to come in local and long-distance public transport – i.e. trips only for vaccinated, convalescent and tested people – and also 3G at work. 2G rules should be possible, a kind of partial lockdown for unvaccinated people.
But does the package bring the turning point? “We will not prevent infections in unvaccinated people with 3G,” said virologist Christian Drosten at the hearing on the legislative plans. “Because we are now in a high incidence situation.” Vaccinated people could be infected undetected and pass the virus on to unvaccinated people, even on buses and trains. That means: 3G in trains and buses is too late.
Too late – that’s what experts say about booster vaccinations for the very old. Since they were the first to be vaccinated, they were also the first to need the booster, that has been clear for a long time. Mobile vaccination teams are also increasingly on the move in homes, but the gaps are large. Nationwide, the booster vaccination rate in the 60+ generation is just under 12 percent.
Too little, too late, the pattern repeats itself. Politicians are also chasing the fourth wave of the virus.