Karl Lauterbach (SPD) criticized Maybrit Illner on Thursday that the lack of communication about the data on the vaccination rate nourished conspiracy theories.
Berlin - The Robert Koch Institute recently announced that the vaccination rate could actually be up to five percentage points higher.
This news caused a stir in the media and the general public, but it was no surprise for experts.
Health expert Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also said that this had been known for a long time.
However, this should have been communicated directly to prevent conspiracy theories.
Lauterbach also commented on Freedom Day.
Lauterbach: "Knew for a long time that numbers cannot be precise"
The Robert Koch Institute had known for a long time that not all vaccination centers correctly transmit the data and that this could lead to a discrepancy. That is why the institute commissioned a special survey and a public survey. This study compared the actual vaccination status in the population with the data available to the RKI. This resulted in an actual vaccination quota of at least once vaccinated people of up to 84 percent and a proportion of fully vaccinated people of up to 80 percent in the adult population - around five percentage points above the previously known vaccination quota. From the point of view of experts, the excitement about the discrepancy in the vaccination rate is irrelevant. The vaccination rate in the general population is important - not just among adults, said Dr. Christian Drosten.
The doctor and politician Karl Lauterbach also commented on the numbers in the Maybrit Illner program on Thursday. From Lauterbach's point of view, two mistakes have been made at the same time: too much has been documented in vaccination centers and too little in the case of doctors in private practice. In some cases it was not even noted how old the vaccinated or what gender they were. There were no clear rules. “It has long been known that the numbers cannot be precise,” says Lauterbach. The health expert estimates that this had been known for about two months. He thinks it is a mistake not to have clearly communicated this directly, "because it feeds conspiracy theories." Some people would now ask themselves whether this was done on purpose, for example to stop Freedom Day. That is clearly not the case.
Lauterbach is currently rejecting Freedom Day for children
On Thursday's broadcast, Maybrit Illner discussed the subject of Freedom Day with her guests Jan Josef Liefers, Karl Lauterbach, Ute Teichert and Klaus Stöhr.
The term was coined in the United Kingdom and describes a specific date for the end of all corona measures.
Jan Josef Liefers was the only guest who had no medical background.
He called for a future end to all measures in Germany, referring to the neighboring country of Denmark.
There, Freedom Day had already come with a 75 percent vaccination rate in the general population.
The guests at Maybrit Illner on Thursday (October 14th):
Karl Lauterbach (SPD)
- Member of the Bundestag and doctor
Jan Josef Liefers
- actor, #allemalneschichtmachen #allesdichtmachen
Ute Teichert
- Chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service (BVÖGD)
Klaus Stöhr
- virologist, epidemiologist, vaccine expert
Karl Lauterbach currently considers the vaccination quota for a Freedom Day to be too low.
At least 90 percent of those over 65 must be vaccinated in order to think about it, said the politician.
Lauterbach reminds you that people over 65 are the age group with the most severe courses.
In his opinion, a vaccination rate of 95 percent in this age cohort would be ideal.
With a view to Denmark, where the corona measures have already been taken, 96 percent of the over 65-year-olds are already vaccinated.
He thus invalidates Jan Josef Liefer's argument for an imminent Freedom Day based on the Danish model.
In contrast to the virologist Klaus Stöhr, Lauterbach is also against dropping the measures in children.
A Freedom Day for children would be tantamount to an infection, according to Lauterbach.