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Bavaria's Minister of Health Holetschek: "The current situation is extremely dramatic" - Clear announcement about compulsory vaccination

2021-11-12T04:26:34.305Z


Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek sees the current corona development with great unrest: The situation is "worrying," said the CSU politician to Merkur.de on Thursday.


Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek sees the current corona development with great unrest: The situation is "worrying," said the CSU politician to Merkur.de on Thursday.

Munich - In the fight against the Corona * pandemic, Bavaria's Health Minister Klaus Holetschek is pushing for further measures. He expects that “a clear signal will be sent at the Prime Minister's Conference next week and that a decision will be made on compulsory vaccination for certain professions at the federal level,” said Holetschek in an interview with

Merkur.de

on Thursday

.

Holetschek rejected a general compulsory vaccination modeled on other European countries such as France or Italy, but kept a back door open.

In view of the “force and dynamism” of the virus, the measures “have to be reconsidered and adapted again and again,” said the incumbent head of the Conference of Health Ministers (GMK).

“At this point in time” he does not see a general vaccination requirement.

But the discussion is picking up speed.

Minister of State, the corona situation continues to worsen.

Since this Thursday, the corona disaster case has been in force in the Free State again.

Is the situation really that dire? 

The sad truth, unfortunately, is that one high chases the next.

The numbers are increasing rapidly.

We are lying today (

on November 11th, ed.

) in Bavaria with a 7-day incidence * of 427.4 and 684 Covid * -19 patients are in intensive care units. This clearly shows that the current situation is extremely dramatic and worrying. Our intensive care units are full. In view of the almost exploding incidences and the consequent strong increase in the number of Covid-19 patients, the situation in the intensive care bed area of ​​hospitals can be expected to worsen over the next few weeks. The situation is already extremely tense in most regions of Bavaria. Our nurses and doctors are at their limit. We must therefore act urgently and protect our health system from overload that is no longer manageable.

In view of this development, the demands for the introduction of a nationwide 2G obligation are getting louder. Wouldn't that be a viable way to break the current corona wave?

In Bavaria, the Corona traffic light is currently red. This means that we are relying on 2G in a large number of areas.

That is right and important.

But one thing is clear: we need a signal from the federal government.

The federal government and the traffic light coalition partners must not duck any further, but must finally face their responsibility for the people.

We cannot discuss the end of the epidemic situation and then be amazed that a carelessness creeps into the people, which in the end takes revenge.

The numbers are clear: we are in the middle of an emergency.

We urgently need federal-state talks.

We can only take people with us if we all agree.

Because of the development, however, calls for mandatory vaccinations are getting louder, at least for certain professions.

How do you feel about it?

We tried for a long time to convince with the force of the arguments.

We want that to continue.

But: In this pandemic, we have always listened to the experts and science.

And if the national academy now recommends “vaccination requirements for multiplier groups” and the German Ethics Council also calls on the federal government to check whether certain professional groups are required to be vaccinated, then politicians must act.

There is also an increasing desire for mandatory vaccinations from nursing homes.

This means?

Now is the time to make a decision. Especially in old people's and nursing homes, hospitals and social institutions, it is up to us to do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable members of our society and also the youngest as possible. I take the current statements of the Leopoldina and the Ethics Council very seriously and we have to seriously consider compulsory vaccination for these professional groups. The federal government is now called upon to ensure that we do not lose any more time in the fight against the pandemic. I expect a clear signal to be sent at the Prime Minister's Conference next week and a decision to be made on compulsory vaccination for certain professions at the federal level.

In France or Italy, the indirect compulsion to get vaccinated has led to a high vaccination rate - with a significantly better corona situation than in Germany and significantly fewer intensive care patients.

Don't we have to think about a de facto mandatory vaccination for everyone in this country too?

So far, we have always refused a general vaccination requirement.

Because one thing is clear: A compulsory vaccination always triggers resistance.

We are still doing everything we can to convince with the strength of the vaccination arguments.

In the past seven days we were finally able to register an increasing demand for first vaccinations.

In the Free State, around 14,040 more citizens were vaccinated on Wednesday than on any other day in October and November.

I hope this trend continues.

And if not, is compulsory vaccination the last resort?

In the last year and a half it has become clear: Corona does not adhere to any forecasts and no supposed end date.

Even the virologists are surprised at the enormous force and dynamism the virus repeatedly unfolds.

For me, one thing is clear: we have to keep rethinking and adapting our measures.

At the moment I don't see a general vaccination requirement.

But the discussion is picking up speed.

Last year, the Christmas lockdown proved very effective.

How likely is another shutdown at the turn of the year?

One thing is clear: we continue to rely on prudence and caution!

We are closely monitoring the situation in the intensive care units and are checking whether and where our rules still need to be expanded.

But here I am also relying on the citizens' own responsibility.

I can only appeal to people: stay cautious and prudent!

Adhere to the corona protective measures and the AHA + L rules.

Because of the extreme stresses, many nurses at the hospitals have quit work in the past few months.

In order to stop the wave of emigration, there were also considerations to increase the pay.

Hardly anything has happened so far.

Doesn't there have to be at least one care bonus for employees, as in the previous year?

Our nurses do their best every day in the fight against Corona. You go beyond your limits. In my conversations with the nurses, I notice that they are passionate about their job. But they also burn out. It is not enough just to talk about the fact that we need to improve and reform care from the ground up. We have to take action. Short-term measures are now needed to quickly improve the situation. We are therefore investing 35 million euros in Bavaria and paying another expense-related bonus payment to the hospitals. At least 50 percent of the funds are to be passed on by the respective hospital as a bonus to clinic employees - in particular the nursing staff - who are particularly stressed by the ongoing pandemic. That is money well invested! And we should not forget:In future, long-term care contracts can only be concluded if the facilities pay according to collective agreements.

* Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-11-12

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