Omikron without mandatory vaccination "dirty vaccination through the back door"?

Lauterbach calls the end of the pandemic "naive"

Created: 01/09/2022, 06:17 AM

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach speaks out in favor of compulsory vaccination.

© Michael Kappeler / dpa

In some European countries, compulsory vaccination is already a reality.

This is how Karl Lauterbach sees the discussion - he also explains why Omikron is not the end of the pandemic.

Munich - Will the general compulsory vaccination come and when does it come?

For Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) there is no doubt despite the many mild Omikron cases.

“In fact, thanks to Omikron, the risk of serious illness is reduced.

But we still need the mandatory vaccination, ”he told the

in an interview.

“Otherwise, Omikron is a dirty vaccination through the back door.

One would bet that everyone would eventually become infected and then be immunized.

Such a contamination leads to big problems. "

"Nobody can guarantee that a variant that is much more dangerous will not develop in the near future"

Lauterbach continues: “Even if the likelihood of hospitalization at Omikron is significantly lower for unvaccinated people, there are still a lot of patients left.

So many unvaccinated people would run the risk of becoming seriously ill, or of suffering from the consequences for their entire life, or even of dying.

That would be a tragedy. "

Lauterbach speaks about the fact that a mandatory vaccination could also prevent a worse Corona variant: "Imagine for a second that the Omikron variant would be significantly more deadly. Then we would be in existential danger now. This cannot be ruled out for the future either. Nobody can guarantee that a variant that is much more dangerous will not be developed in the near future. ”The federal government is currently preparing“ with high pressure ”for this. It requires a "permanent infrastructure". Lauterbach continues: "If we get a variant that is as contagious as Omikron, but much more deadly, we should be able to develop and produce a new vaccine in the shortest possible time."

Society is "still very far away from an end to the pandemic." An omicron infection does not necessarily make you immune to the next virus variant.

The belief that the omicron variant is the end of the pandemic is "naive".

Another serious outbreak could occur at any time.

“We mustn't fall into the naive assumption that it'll be over soon.

It's not over."

Compulsory vaccination?

Lauterbach wants to "encourage a large group of unvaccinated people to be vaccinated"

In other countries there is currently little debate about compulsory vaccination because the Omikron variant has changed the situation for many European countries.

Lauterbach: “The trend in the number of cases is so catastrophic that the states have other things to do than debate about compulsory vaccination.

I can understand that well.

But I believe that the debate will come back in these countries. "

According to Lauterbach, compulsory vaccination cannot ensure that the population is fully vaccinated - because of those who oppose the vaccination.

“You have to accept that even with duty you will never reach everyone.

But I am convinced that there is a large group of unvaccinated people who we can induce to vaccinate by compulsory vaccination. "

Vaccine shortages: "We were able to get 25 million units of Moderna"

Except for one vaccine, no bottlenecks are to be expected: “We were able to get 25 million units of Moderna vaccine.

It is enough for 50 million booster vaccinations.

Bottlenecks only exist at Biontech.

We couldn't reorder this vaccine so quickly. "

For him, the debate between vaccination opponents and corona deniers “lost all measure and goal.

A small group is ready to wipe all scientific knowledge off the table and voluntarily enter a bubble of pseudo-truths. "For Lauterbach this is" a frightening development in the post-war history of our country. "(

The first Corona summit of the year has ended: the federal and state governments have passed new resolutions.

The focus was on gastronomy, quarantine rules and vaccination.