Corona summit: Job-related vaccination requirement on the brink - incidence at maximum

Created: 01/23/2022, 12:01 p.m

By: Astrid Theil

Olaf Scholz and the MPK heads after the past Corona summit in December 2021. © Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

On Monday (January 24th) there will be the first Corona summit in the new year, at which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will discuss further measures with the Prime Minister.

• On Monday, the prime ministers will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for the Corona summit.

• Despite the rapidly increasing number of infections, the Corona Expert Council does not recommend any stricter measures.

• The job-related vaccination requirement is being criticized and is on the brink.

• This news ticker is continuously updated.

Berlin – On Monday (January 24), the prime ministers want to discuss how to proceed in the corona pandemic with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The measures that could be decided are influenced by the current infection process and expert opinions. An overview.

The corona numbers are currently increasing rapidly in Germany.

The seven-day incidence of new infections has exceeded 800 for the first time.

On Sunday morning (January 23), the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported an incidence of 806.8.

In the last few days, this value has risen sharply: the day before the incidence was 772.7 and a week ago it was 515.7.

According to experts, however, the number of infections should be treated with caution, especially in the future.

It is expected that more and more infections cannot be detected because test capacities and health authorities are increasingly at the limit.

Corona Expert Council: No further tightening of the measures recommended

The expert council of the federal government *, which is important for the political approach in the corona pandemic, published a statement on the current situation on Saturday evening (January 22) and made recommendations.

In view of the high incidence values ​​​​and case numbers, these were surprising: the committee does not recommend any new tightening of the corona measures.

Instead, the existing regulations would have to be retained and consistently enforced.

Further measures would only have to be introduced if the hospitalization rate exceeds critical levels in the coming weeks.

However, the committee does not write in the statement which value is critical and which exact measures should then be taken.

Measures should be prepared now so that they - if necessary - "can be implemented without delay".

End of the pandemic: Experts continue to pin hope on vaccination

The Expert Council continues to regard contact restrictions and vaccination as essential measures to overcome the corona pandemic.

The intensification of the booster campaign is therefore a high priority.

Otherwise, you have to expect “strong waves of infection and illness” again and again.

With an increase in basic immunity in the population and a decrease in the number of cases and hospital admissions, contact restrictions could even be gradually withdrawn.

However, there is also a warning: Due to the existing contact reductions and the prudent behavior of the citizens, the internationally observed steep increase in the number of infections in Germany was initially slowed down.

However, the Expert Council expects a further increase, at the peak of which seven-day incidences "could be reached by several thousand regionally".

Minister of Health Lauterbach: Relaxing would "pour oil on the fire"

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has also spoken out several times in favor of maintaining the existing measures without tightening them up.

However, he also warned against easing to

the

: “But easing would be fatal. We would pour oil on the fire and accelerate the wave.” He also suggested prioritizing the particularly reliable PCR tests and concentrating contact tracing on selected professional groups.

The upcoming vaccination requirement for nursing staff and hospital staff could also become an important topic at the upcoming Corona summit.

Occupational vaccinations are to be introduced in mid-March.

However, more and more criticism was expressed about this.

According to the

, several federal states are insisting on postponing the corona measure.

It should first be waited for the introduction of the inactivated vaccine Novavax.

Too many nurses do not want to be vaccinated and would accordingly be eliminated in the health sector, which is already suffering from a severe shortage of staff.

Job-related compulsory vaccination on the brink: waiting for the inactivated vaccine Novavax

However, since the new Novavax vaccine is more accepted by many vaccination skeptics than the previous mRNA vaccines, many nursing staff could still be vaccinated with it.

The first shipment of 1.75 million doses is expected to be available from February 21.

With two vaccinations, however, this could delay the introduction by several weeks.

Crisis talks are said to have taken place on Saturday in this context in the presence of Health Minister Lauterbach (SPD).

Meanwhile, Markus Söder (CSU) * insists on a postponement of the vaccination requirement because he fears too many staff losses.