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Here the health minister still vaccinates himself: the doctor Karl Lauterbach at a vaccination appointment in Schwerin
Photo: Jens Buettner / AP
The omicron wall is causing infection levels in Germany that have never been seen before, and at the same time doctors are hoping that the pandemic will end soon thanks to the less aggressive variant.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) is now warning against false hopes – and gives a necessary time frame for general vaccination.
“If we want to make an application that still works, then it will make vaccination compulsory in April, maybe in May,” said Lauterbach on the “RTL Direkt” program.
The Minister of Health shares the opinion of experts such as the Berlin virologist Christian Drosten that at some point everyone will become infected.
However, that does not mean that vaccination is unnecessary.
"There is still no basic immunity, especially for the elderly and sick," the minister warned.
Other new variants of the corona virus could appear by autumn.
"Then we would be left empty-handed if we again had the large number of unvaccinated people who we have to protect in order to prevent the health system from being overloaded." Lauterbach therefore called for a quick decision by the Bundestag to introduce compulsory vaccination.
»And then you are already in September or October«
Accordingly, May is also the latest time to prepare for compulsory vaccination for the fall: "Those who have not yet been vaccinated must still go through three vaccination cycles, and then you are already in September or October." The obligation to vaccinate must be implemented quickly, "so that I can still avert the wave in the fall."
The obligation to vaccinate had already been suggested by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in December – so far, however, no law is in sight.
Scholz wants a conscientious decision in the Bundestag, without party pressure.
The law is to be drawn up in the form of motions from among the parliamentary groups.
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The opposition accuses Scholz of shirking the drafting of its own law.
According to Health Minister Lauterbach, at least one specific application is currently in the works.
With a view to Omikron, Lauterbach does not expect the number of infections to level off for a few weeks.
"I think we'll peak the wave in mid-February, and then the number of cases could go down again, but we haven't reached the peak yet."
Lauterbach also assumes that the nationwide seven-day incidence is significantly higher than the value of 553.2 reported on Tuesday.
The number of unreported cases should be "roughly a factor of two," said Lauterbach.
"We don't know exactly whether there are a thousand."
mrc/AFP
