On the occasion of the vaccination summit, Plasberg clarifies the most important questions on the subject with experts.
First and foremost: When will there be enough vaccine for everyone?
Berlin - “Hard but fair” once again deviated from the usual plan on Monday: shortly after the vaccination summit, moderator Frank Plasberg set up an information broadcast on vaccination.
That evening he wanted to answer the most burning questions: When is there enough vaccine for everyone?
What about risks and side effects?
When will herd immunity be achieved - and will it be sufficient against new mutants?
The mood should remain positive, Plasberg indicates the direction of travel of his talk - so please solution-oriented, instead of wallowing problems - also in view of the fact that (only) 7.2 percent of German citizens were recently vaccinated twice.
High point of motivation: The switch from Tel Aviv is supposed to put people in the mood for vaccination.
Current party pictures from a club with smooching couples are played and correspondent Susanne Glass says: “Going out to eat with friends feels wonderful!
When I went out again for the first time, it was such a sigh of relief ... I realized how important this is for mental health, ”said the reporter.
Also that the closed shops are reopened because people can go shopping again, that people can hug again, "just do well".
"Hard but fair" - these guests discussed with:
Dilek Kalayci (SPD)
- Senator for Health, Care and Equality of the State of Berlin, switched on
Johannes Vogel (FDP)
- General Secretary in North Rhine-Westphalia
Anke Richter-Scheer
- Head of the Minden-Lübbecke Vaccination Center
Prof. Dr.
Carsten Watzl
- Head of the Immunology Research Department at the Leibniz Institute for Labor Research at the TU Dortmund
Stephan Grünewald -
psychologist
Susanne Glass
- director of the ARD television studio in Tel Aviv, switched on
So much for the beautiful view.
Now it's time to get down to business.
How did Netanyahu actually manage to have so many vaccination doses in the country that he could even get vaccinated on the beach, asks Plasberg curiously.
Corona vaccination topic at "Hard but fair": Netanyahu "annoyed" Pfizer boss with nightly calls
The answer shows how political styles differ internationally: Benjamin Netanyahu, according to correspondent Glass, simply “annoyed” himself and publicly boasted that he had “called the Pfizer boss 50 times”.
The Pfizer boss had also confirmed that he had even been contacted by the prime minister at night.
But in the end, a deal that made it possible for Pfizer to transfer anonymized patient data from Israel was also convincing.
FDP-NRW General Secretary Johannes Vogel jumped on the idea.
If it had been anonymized, this would also have been possible in Germany; data protection would not have ruled out such a “study”, Vogel is certain.
But the train has left.
“What one can already learn,” says Vogel, referring to the current situation, is “firstly pragmatism” and “secondly, acting with foresight”.
Above all, Germany had discussed the fact that nobody should be vaccinated too early.
The problems of vaccine procurement would come back to Germany, believes Vogel - at the latest when a vaccine is no longer effective against mutants.
He doubted whether the coalition was prepared for this case.
“I asked the federal government exactly that.
The answer was: We check and monitor it. ”“ That sounds worrying, ”interjects Plasberg.
Plasberg guests agree: prioritization must be handled more flexibly
Keyword for the vaccination center manager Anke Richter-Scheer, who breaks a lance directly from the "front" for more freedom from vaccinations - with the full approval of the group: "We now need flexibility and relaxation!" In other words: More commitment from general practitioners, freedom in choosing who to vaccinate.
The 63-year-old Plasberg admits in a subordinate clause that he has already been vaccinated once - made possible by a so-called “residual dose”.
"Individual decisions are to be represented", emphasizes Anke Richter-Scheer, "they bring us further in the herd immunity".
The Berlin Health Senator Dilek Kalayci (left) sees it the same way: “Every vaccinated person is a contribution to herd immunity.” And: “The prioritization in the first phase was really important because we saved lives with it. We can prove that. ”In the meantime, however, the situation is different: With the expected vaccination doses - between 56 and 80 million - one could soon“ offer up to 50 percent of Berliners a vaccination ”. Elsewhere, Kalayci becomes clearer: "I am in favor of us finally lifting the prioritization."
So far, so agreed.
Immunology professor Carsten Watzl is on the show for risks and side effects.
He points out that - regardless of whether with Astrazeneca, Johnson & Johnson or Biontech / Pfizer - re-infection with Corona is possible despite a double vaccination.
There are 5,000 such cases in the United States.
In relation to the population, however, this corresponds to only 0.008 percent.
“Hard but fair” expert gives the all-clear: mutants are less dangerous than previously assumed
What about the mutants? Plasberg hesitantly asks. Expert Watzl gives the all-clear: the motto “I'll wait until the better vaccine comes” is risky: “At the moment there is no mutant that the vaccines do not work.” Neither the British nor the South African - not even the relatively harmless Indian one , says Watzl. On the other hand, the risk of being infected drops by 50 percent after a simple vaccination - and if a corona infection does occur, it is much milder in those who have been vaccinated and the risk of death is massively reduced, the immunologist knows.
Corona will no longer go away, Watzl is sure.
70 percent of those vaccinated in the country are the basis for future herd immunity - and for a return to normalcy.
Watzl makes it clear that this means that “vaccinations must be given in the summer”, otherwise you will have “the rude awakening in autumn.” Plasberg slows him down.
Enough with the negative information: "Autumn has beautiful days too!"
The view of the rest of the world - with the exception of the positive examples of Israel and the USA - is also excluded from Plasberg.
Just like the question of what impact it will have if most nations probably have to get by without a vaccine for the next few years ...
Conclusion of the “hard but fair” talk
Lots and lots of information. Almost a little too much. At the end of the day, some of the audience's heads are probably smoking. And one thing becomes clear - the aim of the program is: to make people want to vaccinate, to take the wind out of the sails of those who oppose vaccination. Because there is one thing that the country does not need now: When the vaccine is finally here, a majority that does not want to be vaccinated - and / or the next huge debate about sense and necessity.