B.und-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) calls on Germans to be more determined in the fight against the corona virus. The current development of the hospitalization values and the death rate “causes me great concern,” she says of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung“. She added: “It should cause us all to worry.” At the moment, however, “a certain recklessness is spreading.” It makes them very sad that two to three million Germans over the age of 60 are still not vaccinated.
The Robert Koch Institute reports 21,543 new corona cases. That is 6398 positive tests more than on Saturday a week ago. The seven-day incidence rose significantly to 145.1 from 139.2 the previous day; a week ago it was 100. 90 other people died in connection with the virus. The seven-day incidence has been rising steadily for two weeks.
All developments in the live ticker
12.48 p.m. – Vaccine Receives US Approval for Five to Eleven Year Olds
A large-scale vaccination campaign for five- to eleven-year-old children in the USA is approaching: The US FDA granted the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer an emergency approval for this age group on Friday. Among other things, the drug agency stated that the vaccine was also effective and safe for children under the age of twelve. So far, only a handful of countries, including China, Chile, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates, each administer approved vaccines to younger children.
12.13 p.m. – “Maybe Joshua Kimmich is still thinking about it,” says Merkel
Football pro Joshua Kimmich could reconsider his stance on the corona vaccination in the opinion of the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Maybe Joshua Kimmich is still thinking about it. He is known as a very reflective footballer, “said the former CDU boss of the”Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung“.
Even a professional footballer has the right not to be vaccinated, said Merkel. In response to Kimmich’s reasoning, who, among other things, referred to the lack of long-term studies on vaccines, Merkel said, “There are very good factual arguments that are generally available for his questions and doubts.”
10:36 am – Compulsory vaccination for nurses required
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister of Social Affairs Stefanie Drese (SPD) has called for mandatory vaccinations for employees in the industry after several corona outbreaks in care facilities in the state. “It is my goal to make vaccination compulsory for nursing staff legally secure,” said Drese to the news magazine “Spiegel”. This should protect people who are particularly susceptible to corona infection. This includes residents of senior centers. According to Drese, the obligation to vaccinate must be regulated nationwide in the Infection Protection Act. Due to legal difficulties, this is unlikely to be achieved this winter.
10.16 a.m. – Merkel worried about the number of infections
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) calls on the Germans to be more determined in the fight against the corona virus. The current development of the hospitalization values and the death rate “causes me great concern,” she says of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung“. “It should cause us all to worry.” At the moment, “a certain recklessness is spreading”. It makes them very sad that two to three million Germans over the age of 60 are still not vaccinated.
9:40 a.m. – USA has second highest infection rate
In the US, the number of new infections increases by at least 100,981 within a day. This is a Reuters count based on official data from the health authorities. The number of deaths related to the coronavirus increases by at least 2,730 to 748,349. The USA has the highest number of infections and deaths in the world.
8:24 am – Medical President warns of hospital strain
In view of the faster spread of the corona, medical president Klaus Reinhardt is promoting targeted booster vaccinations and warns of greater stress on the clinics. “The situation is still manageable,” said the head of the German Medical Association. But you definitely don’t want to experience again that nurses from other areas help out on corona wards and, for example, predictable operations have to be canceled.
Reinhardt is in favor of stricter measures for unvaccinated people. “If the number of cases continues to increase, we may have to hold a social discussion as to whether lockdown measures only apply to unvaccinated people,” Reinhardt told the “mirrors“. “I would find that justified if the aim was to secure inpatient care,” said the President of the German Medical Association. It is currently mainly the unvaccinated who have to be treated with severe Covid courses in the clinics.
4.30 a.m. – 100 million doses of vaccine for poor countries
Germany is sticking to its goal of delivering 100 million vaccine doses to poorer countries by the end of the year. “We keep this promise”, says a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Health (BGM) of WELT am Sonntag. So far, Germany has only sold 17.6 million cans from the manufacturer AstraZeneca to third countries. The largest recipient countries are Vietnam with 2.6 million cans, Ukraine with 1.5 million and Egypt and Ghana with 1.5 million each. Sufficient vaccines for third-party vaccinations are still available in Germany. According to the BMG, Germany will receive a total of 256 million cans from all approved manufacturers in 2022.
4:30 p.m. – Incidence rises to 145.1
The Robert Koch Institute reports 21,543 new corona cases. That’s 6398 more positive tests than on Saturday a week ago when 15,145 were reported. The seven-day incidence increases significantly to 145.1 from 139.2 the previous day, a week ago it was 100. The value indicates how many people per 100,000 inhabitants have been infected with the coronavirus in the past seven days. 90 other people died related to the virus. The number of reported deaths increases to 95,696 within 24 hours. In total, more than 4.58 million corona tests have so far been positive in Germany.
02.03 am – Teachers and ethics council warn of eyes-to-and-through
In view of the sharp rise in corona numbers, the teachers’ association and the ethics council have warned against endangering the health of many students with a policy of eye-to-eye. The head of the teachers’ association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, criticized the policy of relaxing at a time when health protection measures should be intensified, with a view to the lifting of the mask requirement in the classroom in some federal states. The Vice-Chair of the Ethics Council, Susanne Schreiber, said – also in the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”: “Even if severe courses are less common in children, hundreds of children will be affected by complications if there are severe infections.” And: “One eyes -to-and-through mentality is not enough here. “
Meideringer said that the federal states concerned acted “against the express advice of the in Germany for the risk assessment of Infectious diseases responsible Robert Koch Institute and the majority of virologists ”. With the multitude of infections in children, the absolute number of long-covid episodes, hospitalizations and PIMS syndromes in children is also increasing. “It’s not about hundreds, but about thousands of cases.”
For the Education and Science Union (GEW) and the Education and Training Association (VBE), a return to the mask requirement depends on local incidences. However, both associations insist on the widespread use of air filters in schools in order to contain any corona viruses.