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Paper shows dangerous hanging game when vaccinating: FDP appalled by the state of Merkel's Africa plans

2021-09-15T08:02:19.201Z


No priorities, no epidemiological guidelines, no ethical convictions? The FDP reacts in horror to a ministry information on the subject of corona vaccinations. Merkur.de has the paper.


No priorities, no epidemiological guidelines, no ethical convictions?

The FDP reacts in horror to a ministry information on the subject of corona vaccinations.

Merkur.de has the paper.

  • Germany wants to help fight Corona all over the world - also by building up vaccine production in Africa.

  • The answer of the federal government to a small inquiry from the FDP shows, however, that the measures have not yet progressed very far.

    Merkur.de has the

    paper

    .

  • Liberals accuse the government of lack of plan and ethical convictions.

    Another important point: the plans for booster vaccinations in Germany.

Berlin - New normal - or soon more lockdowns?

Germany and the entire northern hemisphere are facing an uncertain corona winter.

One main reason is the constant concern about further virus mutations: only recently there were warnings about the new "My" variant, which may also be more questionable for vaccinated people.

Among other things, SPD expert Karl Lauterbach explained why the situation is still so dangerous - and partly homemade: “If a variant like My also mutated to a high level of contagion, that would be extremely dangerous.

Possible at any time for billions of people who have not been vaccinated. "

According to many other experts, the conclusion is clear: worldwide, not just in industrialized countries, there must be broad access to corona vaccinations.

This is also the declared aim of the federal government.

But it is precisely on this point that the Bundestag FDP * sees Germany falling short of its goals.

The Liberals put a small question to Merkel's government on the subject of vaccine production in Africa - and some are appalled by the answer.

The paper is at

Merkur.de *

.

Corona vaccinations: FDP reprimands Merkel - "No political priorities, epidemiological guidelines or ethical convictions"

The concern that failures in global vaccination advances may fall on the feet of the richest nations is not new. The SPD, the Greens, the FDP and the Left had already warned of massive problems on request in the spring. Further mutations are "inevitable" with high global distribution, said the FDP member and infectious disease specialist Andrew Ullmann at the time - these could "undermine the effectiveness of our available instruments faster than they can be adjusted". In any case, the first part of his thesis is supported by the delta variant discovered in India, which has long dominated the infection process in Germany.

A good six months later, the Liberal and his parliamentary group see the grand coalition in support of Africa's vaccination efforts massively behind schedule. "The federal government confidently refused to answer the question about the expansion and development of production capacities in Africa," explains Ullmann

Merkur.de

. At the same time, he reprimands plans for booster vaccinations in Germany before global successes in vaccinations for medical staff. Ullmann's verdict on the black-red government is harsh: "This shows that it has no political priorities, no epidemiological guidelines or ethical convictions in the global fight against COVID-19."

The reason for the scolding is the response sent by the CSU-led Development Ministry * to the extensive minor request from the FDP parliamentary group last Wednesday (September 8th).

On the one hand, you can read about some financial expenditure and several approaches to get vaccine production up and running in Africa.

But it is also clear that the efforts of the federal government will not have any effect anytime soon - even the projects supported by Germany for vaccine

filling

in Africa will probably not

really start

until 2022 and the following years.

Nevertheless, the goal is full-fledged production facilities.

Merkel's government: Corona aid for Africa - but the vaccine plans will only ignite next year

There is no lack of financial commitment. In its reply, the ministry wrote of around "500 million euros from budget funds, funds from KfW Development Bank (KfW) and corporate funding from Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) for setting up vaccine production in Africa". Germany is also giving 2.2 billion euros to the “Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator” (ACT-A) initiative - more than the Federal Republic of Germany is asking for through “fair share”. ACT-A is intended to help research and expand corona vaccinations, tests, drugs and medical offers worldwide. They are in concrete contact with various companies to develop vaccine manufacturing capacities in South Africa, Senegal and Ghana.

But the information on the time horizon is rather sobering - despite the time pressure with regard to the risk of mutations, but of course also with the specific saving of human lives.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine is already being bottled in South Africa, and the Biontech vaccine * is to be bottled in 2022.

In Ghana and Senegal, progress will still be a long time coming: Production plans are not yet known, writes the house of Minister Gerd Müller (CSU).

After all, a bottling plant is to be put into operation in Senegal in "2022".

A vaccine production facility there remains a “long-term goal” for the time being.

Corona vaccinations all over the world: FDP expert Ullmann criticizes boosters in Germany - "The wrong way"

That is not enough for Ullmann. “It is indeed very creditable that Germany is giving more money to the global initiative 'Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator' (ACT-A) than required. But that doesn't go to the heart of the international vaccine shortage problem, ”he explains. “The development and expansion of production capacities in Africa was stimulated far too late. This means that valuable time has passed ”- concrete successes can only be expected in“ months ”. Group colleague Jens Beeck warns that an important goal could be missed: the complete vaccination of 30 percent of people in the poorest countries by February 2022.

It is precisely in this light that Ullmann is also critical of the plans for “booster vaccinations” in Germany.

In this way, “some would get two life jackets while others don't have a single one,” he criticizes.

"From an epidemiological point of view, this is the wrong approach and negligent against the background of the national vaccine surplus." 

Corona vaccinations: booster in Germany before first vaccination for medical professionals?

Ministry evades question

The subjects of vaccine donations and booster vaccinations are also the subject of the small inquiry. In a "preliminary remark", the Federal Government in its response refers to the plan to donate 100 million vaccine doses - it started in August. The conference of health ministers also decided in August to offer booster vaccinations to vulnerable groups, can be read in the paper as an answer to question 11. That corresponds to the recommendation of the WHO.

However, the ministry prefers to avoid the question of whether it is right to refresh vaccinations in Germany and Europe before at least the medical staff is globally protected and what advantages this procedure has in fighting global pandemics. "Reference is made to the preliminary remark by the Federal Government and the answers to questions 11 and 11a," it simply says. In point 11a it says comparatively dryly: “The COVID-19 pandemic can only be fought globally and multilaterally. This means that all of the world's population must have access to COVID-19 vaccines. ”Put simply, there are conflicting goals. And you have made a decision for the time being.

Meanwhile, the left also expressed criticism: “While third-party vaccinations are already being carried out in the industrialized countries and the profits of BionTech are skyrocketing, most countries in the global south go almost empty-handed. There, 10,000 people die every day as a result of Covid-19 because less than two percent of the people are vaccinated, ”said MEP Eva-Maria Schreiber on Tuesday. She called for vaccine patents to be released. The attitude of the federal government that the global vaccine supply could be increased quickly even without approval seems "like a mockery". (

fn

) *

Merkur.de

is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-09-15

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