Has the market failed when it comes to vaccine production - and does the state now have to intervene in companies?
At the same time, the CSU and the Greens are making explosive initiatives for a state-controlled emergency economy.
Economic experts are seriously irritated.
Berlin / Munich - New shock numbers for
corona
deaths
every day
: The infections are falling noticeably, but the number of deaths is high.
It is
therefore
all the more important to
vaccinate
quickly
, especially for
risk groups
.
Because there is no vaccine in Europe, it takes time, especially in
Germany
.
In politics, therefore, there is now a debate as to whether the state can force or at least
instruct
companies to produce more vaccine - also in factories other than
Biontech
, Moderna and Co.
Corona: Söder calls for state-controlled "emergency vaccine industry"
You need a state-controlled
"emergency vaccine industry
", says the
CSU
chairman Markus Söder
.
And not only he: Almost at the same time, the chairman of the Greens,
Robert Habeck
,
also calls
for an “emergency vaccine economy”.
What is being called for is a deep intervention in the market economy.
The state should coordinate the companies.
“We need an overview of all pharmaceutical capacities in Germany,”
Söder
told our editorial team on Sunday.
“We have to be able to produce more.
We are in an emergency and need more vaccine quickly. ”Söder speaks of an“ emergency plan in which the state sets clear guidelines for production and compensation ”.
There is also a need for faster approval processes.
Söder also suggests that the
EU
and its regulatory authorities should also
"quickly" examine
the
Chinese and Russian vaccines
.
Even Health Minister Jens Spahn is thinking aloud about it.
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Corona mutation: Pressure is growing - Greens call for "pandemic economy"
The background is that companies like
Biontech are
currently
reaching the
limits of their production.
However, it depends on every day to prevent deaths with quick vaccinations.
At the same time, according to the FAZ, Belgian experts have developed the prognosis that the
British virus mutation B117 will cause
the number of infections to
skyrocket again
from the beginning of March.
Then B117 will be responsible for 90 percent of all infections.
Belgium is systematically sequencing positive tests, unlike Germany so far.
The pressure to vaccinate quickly increases with such predictions.
The green concept also means that all pharmaceutical companies would have to report their capacities and make them available.
In
an interview with Funke
,
Habeck
demands that the pharmaceutical companies should be "immediately involved in production according to their capabilities
."
His co-chair, Annalena Baerbock, even went beyond vaccines.
"We need a pandemic economy that now quickly produces goods such as protective clothing, disinfectants and ventilators in large numbers," she told the "RND" in March.
It included "textile manufacturers, spirits producers, machine builders" and warehouses.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs should coordinate.
Resistance comes from the FDP.
There is talk of “Söder-Satire”, the state should first do its homework when it comes to impeding.
Corona vaccination: Ifo boss suggests premium for faster delivery
Business experts react more than irritated.
Ifo President Clemens Fuest wrote
in a paper from his institute, the
state procurement strategy of the
EU
had "crashed"
.
In all contracts with the manufacturers, too little is given to delivery delays, there are no consequences.
The fact that the EU is sitting on bad contracts "which only contain the non-binding promise to strive for on-time delivery" cannot be changed.
One now has to use “market-based incentives to ramp up production”.
Specifically,
Fuest
suggests
that the EU should
offer
vaccine manufacturers
an additional premium for every dose delivered earlier.
In view of the immense
lockdown costs
“this premium should be very high”, totaling billions.
Fuest: "A dose that is delivered three months early could well be worth hundreds of euros to society, while the costs are much lower." The premiums should be staggered over time, starting at "a multiple of the original price", which the Ifo boss at Biontech estimates at around 15 euros.
Economic incentives for faster production are more effective than threatening lawsuits.
(CD)