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Bavaria's Prime Minister Söder
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
After the temporary stop of the corona vaccinations with the active ingredient from the manufacturer AstraZeneca, Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) comes under fire.
Spahn first failed "with the procurement of the vaccines, then with the test strategy," said Thomas Kutschaty, parliamentary party and designated state chairman of the SPD in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Spahn was "no longer acceptable," said Kutschaty and called on Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) to act immediately.
Spahn is now receiving support from the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
A change at the head of the department would not help now, said Söder in the ARD program »Brennpunkt«.
In the short time, no one with Jens Spahn's wealth of experience could take over the ministry, said Söder.
According to the demand from the FDP, the dispute between the SPD and the Union in the federal government could continue to escalate.
Leading CDU politicians had already talked about the Social Democrats in a digital meeting of the federal executive committee on Monday morning.
CDU boss Armin Laschet had protested against criticism of the coalition partner of the Union ministers.
Other Christian Democrats accused the Social Democrats of exploiting the mask affair in party politics.
Spahn announced on Monday afternoon that he would not have the AstraZeneca vaccine inoculated in Germany for the time being.
Last week several European countries had already imposed vaccination bans, Germany initially wanted to continue vaccinating.
The reason for the stops are reports of complications after the vaccinations, specifically the formation of blood clots.
According to Spahn, there are seven known cases of a so-called cerebral vein thrombosis after a vaccination - out of 1.7 million AstraZeneca vaccinations in Germany.
(Read here what the vaccination ban is all about.)
Apparently, Söder no longer thinks much of reshuffling the cabinet
In other ministerial posts at the federal level, Söder is apparently no longer calling for new appointments - unlike at the beginning of last year.
It is questionable whether such a step before the federal election would still make sense, said Söder.
"Many people doubt that."
"We just have to get better," said the Prime Minister, referring to the poor results of the CDU in the state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.
In the long term, however, he could certainly imagine new appointments, said Söder.
"In addition to the cabinet members, alternatives must also be presented," said Söder, referring to the general election in September.
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