Health ministers meeting: Are there any easing for those who have been boosted?

The health ministers of the federal states are discussing whether there is no need to test people with booster vaccinations with 2G plus. Some countries are already doing this. Health Minister Lauterbach supports this.

In the Corona crisis, the federal and state health ministers want to advise on uniform relief for vaccinated people who have received a booster dose. Federal Minister Karl Lauterbach had spoken out in favor of dispensing with the additional test provided for access rules based on the 2G plus model – also as an incentive to be boosted.

Several countries already have rules

In several countries, boosters are already exempt from the obligation to test 2G plus – for example in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg and Saarland. In Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia, for example, this also applies to people whose second vaccination was less than six months ago, and to those who have recovered, whose Covid 19 disease was no longer than six months ago.

Before the ministerial consultations, Lauterbach had announced a proposal that boosters should be exempted from the additional test provided for access rules based on the 2G plus model. Sending vaccinated people with booster vaccinations for testing does not make sense from a medical point of view, he said ARD. In addition, an end to the obligation to test could be an incentive to get boosted.

Aschenberg-Dugnus: “Additional incentive”

The FDP health expert Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus made a similar statement. She told the dpa news agency: “Of course, you don’t have 100% protection even with a third vaccination. But even if there is a breakthrough in the vaccination, you are well protected against a severe course.” Easing the test requirements could “be an additional incentive for more vaccinations,” she said.

On the other hand, the chairman of the board of the Federal Association of Doctors of the Public Health Service (BVÖGD), Ute Teichert, warned against easing for boosters. Such a step is premature, she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “It would be wiser to wait and see how the pandemic develops in the coming weeks.”

With the vaccination campaign as a whole, the government is continuing to set high pace in order to achieve more vaccinations. This is also due to the spreading Corona variant Omikron.

Dahmen for previous booster vaccinations

The Green health politician Janosch Dahmen called for extensive preparation for this variant. In the “Rheinische Post” he called for three steps: a significant shortening of the interval between the second and third vaccination and an expiry date for vaccination certificates “in order to take into account the medical knowledge about reducing protection against infection”.

Thirdly, the entry regulations must be adapted so that entry from a high-risk area is only possible with a PCR test that is no longer than 24 hours old.