TV review
At “Maybrit illner”
Weltärzte boss Montgomery attacks politics: “You have completely failed”
The guests at “maybrit illner”. From left: Giovanni di Lorenzo, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, Maybrit Illner, Hendrik Streeck, Helge Braun. On the screen: Frank Ulrich Montgomery.
© ZDF / Svea Pietschmann
What good are all the predictions if no one is listening? And where is a concept anyway? The President of the World Doctors is furious. Again Another booming talk show appearance.
By Sylvie-Sophie Schindler
You don’t go to the Chancellery in a sleeping car. So the resentment announcement by Markus Söder in election campaign days to Armin Laschet. But what if the pandemic goes through in a sleeping car? Now it thunders from tens of sides. The tenor: the Corona policy – a great disaster. RKI boss Lothar Wieler recently warned in a fire speech of a “very bad Christmas if we don’t take countermeasures now.” There were serious failures in politics. One should have listened to him and “many other colleagues” better: “After 21 months, I simply can’t take it anymore.” At “Maybrit Illner”, the President of the World Doctors, Frank-Ulrich Montgomery, is now also upset. “You have completely failed,” he snaps on behalf of the Green parliamentary group chairman Katrin Göring-Eckardt and the head of the Chancellery, Helge Braun, who are also on the panel. He makes it clear: “As Kassandren, we predicted everything six or eight weeks ago.” And now the hut is on fire. In a thunderous tone, he demands that one million Germans have to be vaccinated every day: “But where is the logistics, where is the concept, where is the structure?” Politicians owe the citizens “the respect to act now”.
It discussed:
- Helge Braun (CDU), Executive Minister of the Chancellery
- Giovanni di Lorenzo, journalist, editor-in-chief “Die Zeit”,
- Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag
- Christian Karagiannidis, pulmonologist
- Frank Ulrich Montgomery, Chairman of the World Medical Association
- Hendrik Streeck, virologist
Breaking out in panic doesn’t help anyone either, but Braun and Göring-Eckardt should at least be alarmed – as representatives – after all. But: none. Maybe they are still looking for their sleeping compartment. Illner shows a chronology of failure in a single player, musically underlined by Talking Heads oldie “Road to nowhere”. Yes, where are you actually going? “There is a great lack of determination,” criticized Giovanni di Lorenzo. He points to Italy, which clearly shows with a military vaccination officer where it is going. And conjures up the spirit of Helmut Schmidt. Such politicians are needed with “the will to defeat the fucking pandemic.” Instead, you stumble into something “supposedly a surprise” again. The Green politician prefers to focus on Olaf Scholz’s priorities: “At the beginning I had the feeling that the pandemic was running alongside.” Braun also throws down the allegations. You really couldn’t blame him for only warning three weeks ago. In the summer, however, “all the leading media” dismissed all warnings as “horror forecasts” and warning politicians as “panic troops”. And there are also the omissions of many others. The fact that it took so long for a federal-state round to take place “annoys me enormously”.
Frank Ulrich Montgomery on unvaccinated people: “Limit yourself”
To you again, Ms. Göring-Eckardt, weeks ago you pleaded for more lenient measures. How do you explain that today? Oh, look, Ms. Illner, we now have 3G in the workplace and 3G in public transport and mandatory testing in nursing homes. The epidemic emergency was also not extended on Thursday morning in the Bundestag. That is also a good thing. Because: “We got into this situation with it, and I find it unsatisfactory.” Her conclusion: “The situation is as bad as it has never been before.” Braun also comes to the same conclusion: “We have the most difficult situation in the pandemic ever.” But, once again – on your behalf – to both of you: What went wrong politically, it doesn’t just fall from the sky, why did we get into it? Illner followed up several times and wanted answers. But she doesn’t get it. Instead, Braun says: “We have made an important step today to get the situation under control.” He now even advocates compulsory vaccination for, among other things, the nursing staff, “even if that gives me stomach ache.”
From certain limit values - depending on the incidence of hospitalization – 2G or 2Gplus should now apply nationwide in the federal states. Means: Unvaccinated people stay outside. “Will it save us if we marginalize people?” Asks Illner. Montgomery doesn’t like to hear that. “They exclude themselves,” he counters. Only two weeks ago he complained to Anne Will of a “tyranny of the unvaccinated”. And now he brings “the whip” into play at Illner. Because, according to Montgomery, there are only two ways to convince unvaccinated people: the carrot or the stick: “We tried the carrot, it didn’t work.” Ergo you have to exert pressure. With everything, however, “the absolute contact restriction is the most successful measure against Corona”. But: “Of course nobody wants that.” In all of this he is “the great hope that the FDP’s freedom whispering, which promises us freedom to live, in reality a freedom to disease and death that does not prevail.”
Virologist Streeck: “Make vaccinated people realize that the pandemic is not over for them”
All the more, Göring-Eckart wants to “really put pressure on the boiler”. In her opinion, vaccinations should also be available to pharmacists and specialists. After all, it is about vaccinating a million people every day “so that we don’t end up in a perm”. Illner wants to know whether it is more important to vaccinate or boost the unvaccinated. There is no priority, says Montgomery. Hendrik Streeck argues that the unvaccinated should be better educated, as there are still many fears. Oh, what, says Montgomery, he doesn’t want to explain anything more: “We already have a fringe on our beard.” Streeck insists that you have to approach the unvaccinated and answer questions that are there. And what about the dead vaccine that apparently many people who have not yet been vaccinated are waiting for? “Strictly speaking, this is a protein vaccine,” explains the virologist. He expects approval to be granted soon. Streeck also warns against only concentrating on the unvaccinated: “You have to make it clear to the vaccinated that the pandemic is not over for them.” That should have been communicated better a long time ago.
What is the current situation at the hospitals? Christian Karagiannidis, senior physician at the Lung Clinic Cologne-Merheim, gives an insight in a zoom interview. The employees now have a great routine, and the level of professionalism in Germany is generally high. The doctor criticizes the emotional pressure on the unvaccinated. And makes it clear: “I haven’t met a single committed opponent of vaccinations at the clinic.” Does he expect the terrible triage scenario? “I’m not a fan of the word triage.” It’s about prioritization. “I’m not afraid of triage, that would be our state’s declaration of bankruptcy.” He is sure that “all patients can be cared for, that we can do it.” A moderate, soothing voice in the midst of the chaos. In spite of everything, one can still have confidence.