Germany is struggling with the progress made with corona vaccinations.
But vaccination policy currently risks further major dangers.
Four parliamentary groups are criticizing, in some cases, bitterly.
The progress of the corona vaccinations is a constant issue in this country - but in large parts of the world the situation is much more precarious.
That is exactly what Germany and the EU could cost dearly, warned four parliamentary groups at Merkur.de's request.
There is a risk of mutations that can no longer be controlled, warns infectiologist Andrew Ullmann (FDP), while the left warns of a "humanitarian catastrophe".
Even the SPD no longer rules out a controversial countermeasure.
Berlin / Munich - The corona pandemic repeatedly poses problems for politicians.
Often it is about very practical problems in one's own country - but sometimes also about dilemmas of global proportions: because while the vaccination process is at least underway in Germany and large parts of the EU, other parts of the world are in a much worse position.
So far, according to the UN, 75 percent of the vaccine has been administered in only ten countries.
In 130 states, vaccination has not even started.
Such global inequalities are not a new phenomenon.
In the pandemic, however, they are particularly explosive.
Because great egoism could also cost the rich countries dearly.
"We have to be clear that the pandemic will only be defeated when it has been brought under control everywhere," says Andrew Ullmann
Merkur.de *
and warns of a possible uncontrollable mutation.
The infectiology professor is, so to speak, the FDP counterpart to the omnipresent SPD expert Karl Lauterbach.
But what should be done?
Are the funds promised by the federal government and the EU sufficient to solve the problem?
Should Europe donate vaccine doses from its own quotas - and if so, how quickly?
Merkur.de
* asked about the positions of the Bundestag parties in a survey.
The left, FDP * and Greens agree with the ruling party SPD that further steps are probably necessary.
But when
it comes
to the question of
how,
there are major differences.
The topic is also a political issue in view of the sluggish vaccination progress in Germany: The Union and AfD did not even comment on the explosive topic on request.
Corona vaccinations: Warnings to Merkel's government - "Humanitarian catastrophe" and mutation disaster threaten
It seems beyond dispute that there is a problem.
That was what Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus emphasized in a flaming Bundestag speech.
And that is how most parliamentary group experts see it.
The focus is on the global vaccination initiative "COVAX".
"While we aim to have around 70 percent of our population in Germany vaccinated by the summer, optimistic forecasts for COVAX assume 3.3 percent of the population in poorer countries by June this year," explains SPD politician Heike Baehrens
Merkur. de
.
Letting people there wait for a vaccination “until 2024” would be “irresponsible”, she warns.
When it comes to the global distribution of vaccines, something is “fundamentally wrong”, complains Greens politician Ottmar von Holtz, spokesman for civil crisis prevention in his parliamentary group.
Germany has also weakened COVAX with its bilateral vaccine orders - and as a country in which vaccines are researched and manufactured, they have a particular responsibility.
Meanwhile, the health spokesman for the Left Group, Achim Kessler, warns of a "humanitarian catastrophe in many poorer countries".
And the doctor Ullmann attested not only a “moral failure”, but also clear dangers for Germany.
Further mutations * are “inevitable” if there is a high global distribution, he explains. These could “undermine the effectiveness of our available instruments faster than they can be adapted”.
Vaccine donations: global corona crisis smoldering - Greens make clear demands, FDP sees further negotiation errors
So the urgency seems high.
But when it comes to the details of implementation, opinions differ here and there.
"Now the only thing that helps is that we give vaccine doses to the COVAX initiative and do everything we can to increase production capacities for vaccines worldwide," emphasized von Holtz when asked by
Merkur.de
*.
In addition, making vaccinations possible in all countries is a "human imperative".
The GroKo politician Baehrens also urges you to hurry: vaccine doses from EU contingents should now be made available to COVAX "quickly", this has already been promised.
However, apparently only France and Portugal have given specific figures so far.
Both countries want to give up five percent of their cans.
In spite of clear announcements from Chancellor Angela Merkel, no such thing is known from Germany.
+
FDP health expert Andrew Ullmann in the Bundestag.
© Christian Spicker / www.imago-images.de
Ullmann is also counting on efforts by the EU.
He wants to make “surplus vaccine doses” available to countries “in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa” through the European Union.
Where “surplus” begins, however, could be the next open question. At the weekend, Prime Ministers spoke up with a new vaccination initiative.
However, the FDP politician also warns of a new problem - he sees another negotiation error by the EU.
Some contracts require the manufacturers' consent to distribute vaccines, he reports: "I would not have negotiated that." However, the Liberal believes that "at least European companies" are willing to cooperate.
Vaccine missing: Germany slows down the fight against corona - SPD is thinking of a delicate step
But that too has long been in question in another context: Another controversial point is the release of knowledge, licenses and patents to enable the required vaccine production in poorer countries - and to make the vaccine cheaper.
Left, Greens and, notably, the ruling party SPD * will soon see this as necessary.
Or at least for an option.
The sharing of knowledge, for example via the “Covid-19 Technology Access Pool” (C-TAP) of the WHO, has not worked well so far, said Baehrens, SPD rapporteur for the topic of global health - in her opinion, because it is “for there are insufficient incentives for manufacturers to share their know-how widely ”.
The same applies to voluntary licensing between companies.
“The EU Commission has so far relied on voluntary action.
But time is of the essence, ”she emphasized.
"If manufacturers do not use the voluntary licensing mechanism in a timely manner, the temporary transfer of patents and production knowledge must not be a taboo."
The Greens von Holtz also sees the omissions of the Federal Government of Chancellor Merkel in this question.
She should have urged the vaccine manufacturers to share the technologies when the contracts were signed, he complains: “It is not enough to rely on the goodwill of the manufacturer.
Especially in view of the public funding that has flowed into vaccine research, the federal government should have demanded this say. "
And Kessler also sees the GroKo as a brake on solving the global vaccination problem.
Merkel's government, together with the EU and the USA, are blocking the WHO and 100 countries' demands to revoke patent protection during the pandemic - and thus affording itself a “failure” in fighting pandemic internationally.
Kessler, meanwhile, believes the release of licenses is the right move, rather than the donation of vaccines.
The vaccine misery in the global south cannot be resolved “if vaccines are donated instead of money,” he warns.
"Because it's not just the excessively high prices that prevent access, but also the lack of production capacities."
Corona: is Merkel's government acting too slowly?
- "Of course it damages Germany's reputation"
Ullmann does not express a demand for the license to be passed on under duress.
But he, too, sees serious failures in setting up vaccine production around the world.
He already warns of similar, further problems.
The EU now has to help poorer countries with test strategies, the protection of medical personnel and oxygen production, he demands.
For example, the states must be given support "in building medical oxygen capacities": "We must not make the same mistake now as we did with vaccine production."
In general, Ullmann sees too little speed in the Merkel's government's international corona policy.
"With a view to the mutation, she reacts much too hesitantly," the doctor complains.
Adapted global control strategies, studies to optimize the use of existing vaccines and the promotion of complementary vaccines are needed.
And the approval of the vaccines in the individual countries is currently still taking too much time due to individual criteria.
Incidentally, all four groups are also critical of the fact that China is expanding its influence in the world and also in Europe through vaccination diplomacy *, while Europe hesitates.
Kessler expressed his objections particularly pointedly.
Access to vaccines should not be misused as leverage.
But: "Of course it damages the international reputation of the prosperous Federal Republic of Germany if other countries distribute vaccines while the German government gives priority to the interests of the German pharmaceutical industry."
Ullmann also calls for a greater sense of the geopolitical significance of the topic *.
However, the infectiologist does not have any fundamental objections to the use of the hotly debated vaccines from China and Russia - if the studies on the vaccines "are carried out under the same internationally customary qualitative conditions and are validly published".
Baehrens said in a similar way: “Currently, any vaccination that can be given is better than no vaccination.” *
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Florian Naumann
