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The resident of a London nursing home receives the first of two doses of vaccine
Photo: Matt Dunham / AP
Christmas turned into a tragedy at a nursing home for people with dementia in East Sussex.
Every second of the 27 residents died as a result of the coronavirus.
Shortly before, a routine test had shown that the virus had found its way into the facility.
By then it was too late for rescue measures and containment within the house.
The case is indicative of the devastating Corona situation in Great Britain: In England, more than 1200 elderly residents died of or with Covid-19 in the first week of January alone.
In the rest of the country, the death toll also rose sharply.
At the same time, tens of thousands of new infections were registered every day.
No other European country vaccinates and tests longer than Great Britain, only a few imposed so many long and strict lockdowns.
And yet none of them are doing as badly as the UK in the pandemic.
Here, the virus repeatedly paves its way to the oldest and weakest Brits - despite extensive visiting bans, test obligations and hygiene rules.
For many older people, the injection comes too late
According to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, everyone involved is working "hand in glove" together to get the situation under control: doctors and nurses, local authorities and the military.
According to him, the latter is currently using "battle preparation methods" to increase the speed of vaccinating particularly vulnerable groups of the population.
People in Great Britain have been vaccinated since early December.
But for many older people, the injection still comes too late.
Care England, the umbrella organization for care facilities, says facilities have done great things in infection control.
The association attributes the fact that it is still not safer to the virus mutation that is rampant in Great Britain.
It is up to 70 percent more contagious than the previously widespread coronavirus.
"The new variant is spreading everywhere - including in nursing homes," writes Martin Green, managing director of the organization, to SPIEGEL.
Ultimately, "it remains a good question" how the virus can penetrate.
The administration of the extremely affected nursing home in Sussex was not available for information for days.
Her manager had previously told the British "Guardian" that according to the rules and protocols everything went according to the regulations - it could not be explained.
The employees, however, “inevitably also have a life outside the home”, which carries risks of infection.
"It was a terrible Christmas, terrible for the employees," he said.
The virus »is simply unstoppable.
We are easy prey. "
Care England is committed to vaccination quickly.
After a "slow start before Christmas" you can now see that the action is gaining speed, says Green.
An avalanche of insurance, financing and severance issues is rolling towards the homes - and these are just the battles that are fought on paper and on the phone.
"We are very concerned about the mental health of the employees," said the managing director of the umbrella organization.
The transmission of the many death reports is only one of the increasing burdens.
»The care facilities are well prepared for care around the end of life for the residents.
But we saw unprecedented death rates in the pandemic, and that takes its toll, ”he writes.
"The consistently bad news didn't serve morale."
It is all the more impressive how those remaining in heavily affected facilities made the best of the situation after they had lost their roommates, some of whom had lived for years.
"The fact that so few people go in and out there has made the residents in some places a committed community, a family."
15 million British vaccinated by February 15th
Due to the current vaccination plan, Premier Johnson sees a "fundamental difference" between the current corona outbreaks and previous high phases of the pandemic - even if the numbers do not support his assessment: an infection is currently detected in almost 50,000 British people per day.
After all, there is now a way out, the prime minister said in an email to his party.
The only question is: "How quickly can we get the millions of new vaccinations into the arms of the most vulnerable?"
By mid-February, the government wants to have all prioritized groups vaccinated, including those over 70, residents and staff in nursing homes, everyone who works on the front lines in the health sector and those who are considered particularly at risk due to their health.
In total, that's 15 million British people or 23 percent of the population.
The plan is ambitious.
As of January 10, 1.2 million people had been vaccinated in England, plus several hundred thousand in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Official sources currently report 333,000 additional vaccinations per week.
In Germany there are so far only 842,000 people who have been vaccinated, 309,000 of whom live in nursing homes.
However, the British also have to be faster.
Not faster than their former European allies - but faster than the highly contagious virus mutation.
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