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Gibraltar in January 2021: Out and about with a mask
Photo: Emilio Morenatti / dpa
Gibraltar has a vaccination quota of almost 100 percent - the British overseas territory is one of the countries with the highest vaccination density in the world. Nevertheless, the number of infections is currently increasing again. The government initially canceled official Christmas celebrations and similar events in a notice. On Thursday, citizens were again informed about contact risks. You should decide "at your own discretion" whether to meet with family or friends.
All vaccinated, still there are new infections?
Unconventional thinkers see this as proof that vaccinations don't promise what they do.
And that the governments are in truth not about fighting pandemics, but about absolute control.
The example of Gibraltar has been passed around in relevant Telegram groups and on conspiracy blogs for a few days.
With the Grinch against the anger on the web
The government in Gibraltar is now "stupid," said one of the statements - "the division of society according to the agenda" is unlikely to be realized in this way.
“At some point,” someone writes in a Telegram chat, “the last one will understand that Covid is not about a virus”.
Many opponents of vaccination are obviously bothered by the fact that allegedly the Christmas markets in Gibraltar have also been canceled.
The anger on the net increased so much that now Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo interfered on Twitter.
"I'm surprised that I have to say that at all," says Picardo, "BUT Gibraltar has NOT canceled Christmas." He also provided a gif of the Christmas madman Grinch with the catchphrase "What audacity".
What was canceled, so Picardo, were only official government celebrations, no one else was forbidden to meet.
The lockdown, as unconventional thinkers Gibraltar sometimes ascribe to it: It doesn't exist.
Picardo continues to advise caution, even over Christmas.
Citizens should avoid events with many people in closed rooms.
40,000 second vaccinations for 35,000 residents
According to its own information, Gibraltar has already distributed almost 40,000 second vaccinations - with a population of just over 35,000.
The fact that more people were vaccinated than live on the peninsula is due to the fact that commuters from Spain were also able to get vaccinated in Gibraltar.
Despite the high vaccination rate, the government has now reported a rapid increase in new corona infections.
On Friday, 668 active Covid cases were known in the British colony - around half as many as last year in January, when the pandemic in Gibraltar had reached its peak so far.
56 cases were added on Friday alone.
29 of these cases are unvaccinated, and the majority are still minors.
No death since February
A closer look at the statistics confirms the effectiveness of the vaccines: 98 people have died of Corona since the beginning of the pandemic, the last death occurred in February of this year.
There has been no death since the vaccination campaign began.
Serious disease courses are also rare.
Of the currently almost 700 positive corona cases, only two were in the hospital on Friday, none of them in the intensive care unit.
Gibraltar proves with its current figures what studies have shown for a long time: Even vaccinated people can become infected and infect others.
Serious disease courses are rare, however, and there is hardly any risk of overloading the health system.