Bavaria's Minister of Health Holetschek: "Need a vaccination rate of 85 percent" - Freedom Day canceled

The Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek rejects a Freedom Day.

He did not believe in “setting a fixed date for the end of the pandemic,” Holetschek told Merkur.de

Munich - Bavaria's Minister of Health Klaus Holetschek (CSU) * does not see the end of Corona yet.

"The pandemic is still not over - and it is still important to prevent overloading the health system," Holetschek explained to

in an interview

. *

Holetschek also clearly rejected requests for a “Freedom Day”: “I also say very clearly: I do not believe in setting a fixed date for the end of the pandemic.

The virus won't stick to a date. "

Health Minister Holetschek: "Vaccination rate of 85 percent"

According to experts, “we need a vaccination rate of 85 percent for all 12 to 59 year olds and at least 90 percent for those over 60.

Even with the RKI's new estimate, we are still a long way from that, ”said Holetschek, who is currently also chairman of the Conference of Health Ministers (GMK).

Just over a week and a half ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) surprisingly revised the vaccination rate upwards.

According to this, the RKI assumed on October 5th that around 80 percent of all adults nationwide were fully vaccinated.

That was around five percentage points more than previously thought.

As a justification for the new assessment, the RKI referred to the comparison of its figures with citizen surveys and registration data.

The vaccination quota for the particularly endangered age group over 60 is currently 86.5 percent across Germany, 3.5 points below the target value of “at least 90 percent” stated by Holetschek.

Holetschek: Vaccination quota still far from target value

In the younger cohorts, however, the gap between the current vaccination rate and the target value of 85 percent is significantly higher.

According to this, 71.4 percent of the 18- to 59-year-old age group have been fully vaccinated, compared to only 44 percent of the 12 to 17-year-olds.

Across all age groups, the average nationwide is 65.7 percent (as of October 15, 2021).

Holetschek: RKI President Wieler has to go to the report

With a view to the most recent correction of the RKI data, Holetschek also sees a considerable need for clarification.

"We urgently need clarity and truth in the data".

The RKI must "immediately clarify where the new data come from and what deficits there are in the data".

Therefore, RKI President Lothar Wieler has been invited to the next meeting of the Health Ministers' Conference.

Holetschek rejects the 2G rule: those affected "cannot buy groceries"

At the same time, Holetschek rejected the idea of ​​introducing a voluntary 2G regulation for grocery stores for Bavaria, based on the model of the Hessian state government.

"With a 2G rule in supermarkets, people who have not been vaccinated or recovered will ultimately be denied access to vital facilities," warned the CSU politician.

“Especially in rural areas, even a voluntary 2G rule can ensure that some people can no longer buy groceries, for example.

The regulation would amount to a de facto mandatory vaccination, which we have always refused, ”said Holetschek.

On Tuesday, Hesse expanded the so-called 2G option model to the entire retail sector, and thus also to grocery stores.

This means that retailers can now choose whether they only receive people who have been vaccinated and recovered from corona in their stores - for example at certain times of the day.