Critical infrastructure collapse?

SPD man Stegner fears mass panic at Markus Lanz

Created: 01/14/2022, 09:58 am

The talk show on “Markus Lanz” (ZDF).

© ZDF (Screenshot)

The “Markus Lanz” round focuses on the corona virus and the obligation to vaccinate.

SPD man Stegner defends the parliamentary vote.

Hamburg – Who can replace the new Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) as the nation’s pandemic explainer in “Markus Lanz”? Physicist Dirk Brockmann is at least applying with his appearance on the show on Thursday evening. Right at the beginning he makes it clear what Omikron is all about: "After a short time after the second infection, the protection against the infection is no longer there." Even after the booster vaccination it wears off "very quickly": "That means, the infection dynamics are very unlimited at Omikron.”

Lanz digs deeper: "Omicron is spreading so successfully because, unlike Delta, it undermines immune protection through vaccination?" "Yes, exactly," confirms Brockmann, who professionally models the spread of pandemics and knows why vaccination is still important is: "There must never be the association that vaccination is useless.

It is extremely effective protection!” Hospitalization is falling and severe courses are becoming less likely.

Corona information: Modeler Dirk Brockmann explains the current developments at "Markus Lanz".

Talkmaster Lanz is visibly impressed by the conversation with Brockmann, who patiently explains the scientific findings of current studies and the results of his modelling. "That's really interesting," Lanz says again and again, and the other studio guests also listen carefully to Brockmann. "If anyone can explain that, it's you," says Lanz with a particularly complicated diagram. "I'll try it...", Brockmann begins and explains along with the graphic why the decoupling between hospitalization and infection is greater in countries with a higher vaccination rate.

“How does this modeling work?

So that you can get an idea of ​​it”, the moderator is interested in Brockmann's work and asks about the role of the critical infrastructure.

According to Brockmann, a society only functions because many things are intertwined.

Now there is a danger that many people in the omicron wave may fall ill at the same time and "have to stay at home for three or four days".

This is also the case in an idealized system where nobody has to be hospitalized.

"Markus Lanz" - these were his guests on January 13:

• Ralf Stegner (SPD)

  – politician

• Kerstin Münstermann

  – journalist

• Monika Schnitzer

  – economist

• Prof. Dirk Brockmann

  – physicist

SPD politician Stegner on "Markus Lanz": "There would be mass panic"

"Critical infrastructure, that sounds technical," says SPD man Ralf Stegner.

But what would it mean if the police, hospitals, banks, energy suppliers, traffic stopped working?

"Not only would we have chaos within a very short time, but there would also be mass panic," warns Stegner.

That cannot be allowed and that is why the government is trying everything to prevent such a scenario.

How does the SPD position itself?

Is vaccination coming or not?

Lanz becomes clear with regard to a possible vaccination and attacks the SPD head-on: "Why is the SPD wobbling around like that?" For him, "at the moment of the crisis it is about clearly leading from the front", Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) he couldn't attest to that. Lanz therefore asked SPD politician Ralf Stegner: “You want to conduct orientation debates, a lively approach. What is that supposed to be?” “You can scoff at it,” Stegner replies, “but I don't share that assessment. The Germans love power words. I don't think that's the point when it comes to compulsory vaccination.' This is also due to the fact that compulsory vaccination will not help immediately. However, one wants to avoid being stuck in a similar situation as now in the autumn.

"In the beginning there was a mistake that many made when they said: We don't want vaccinations as a matter of principle," Stegner continues and does not exclude himself from this criticism, "we didn't know yet: Will the vaccine come quickly?

Will it work?

What happens there?

Do people get vaccinated?” Many would have been wrong, he too thought that compulsory vaccination was not necessary.

Vaccination decision in Parliament - "Markus Lanz" feels SPD man Stegner on the tooth

"Why don't we just make our own government draft?" Stegner reacts to the criticism and gets involved in the thought game. The result would be that you would have the usual government and opposition behavior: "Some for, others against." You have that now, too,” counters Münstermann. "No, we didn't do that," Stegner insists, "we will have a question that the deputies decide according to their conscience, not assigned according to faction constraints." "Representative democracy! You were elected to make decisions, quite simply," summarizes the upset host Lanz. "Yes, I will also vote for compulsory vaccination in the German Bundestag," Stegner replies, no less angry. "Well, I don't mean you personally," says Lanz in a softer tone,but Stegner frowns: "Yes, but I'm also part of it."

"Markus Lanz" - The conclusion of the show

"Markus Lanz" is divided into three parts on Thursday evening: First, talk show host Lanz and physicist Dirk Brockmann talk factually about the corona pandemic and the spread of the omicron variant, before the debate about compulsory vaccination gets heated.

Politician Ralf Stegner (SPD) throws around a lot of taunts and exaggerations, and he usually doesn't accept the arguments of journalist Kerstin Münstermann or economist Monika Schnitzer.

The climax of this dynamic is when Schnitzer points out the psychological consequences of corona measures and Stegner's answer is to flatly declare those who criticize compulsory vaccination to be conspiracy theorists.

Finally, Münstermann, Schnitzer and Lanz argue with Stegner about the future viability of pensions in Germany.

Brockmann holds back, but at the end makes a thoughtful point: "We ask: Where do we get the people from?

And at the European external border in Poland, people are dying because we don't bring them in.

So I ask myself: what kind of logic is that?”