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Health Minister Lauterbach
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Despite the EU's decision to extend the convalescent status for corona diseases, Germany does not want to go along with it.
Karl Lauterbach's (SPD) Ministry of Health sees no need to extend the period from three to six months.
When asked by Business Insider, however, the ministry made it clear that there would be no further changes.
EU citizens are therefore treated as unvaccinated three months after their infection, provided no additional vaccination has taken place.
In other European countries, on the other hand, they are put on an equal footing with vaccinated people for up to six months.
A spokesman for the ministry justifies the position with the fact that the EU did not agree on a six-month validity of the convalescent status in its recommendation on Tuesday, but on six months as the upper limit.
The ordinance states that "convalescence certificates are valid no earlier than 11 days after a positive PCR test and a maximum of 180 days".
The German regulation moves within this framework, the spokesman said.
Regarding the criticism of the shortening of the recovered status, he said: "Of course, we are not entirely happy with how it went." At the same time, he referred to a new procedure that had previously been decided by the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
This still has to play out.
Proof of recovery must therefore meet criteria that the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) publishes on a website - they then apply immediately.
One of the criticisms is that the RKI did not announce the change beforehand.
German politicians criticize the decision.
»While Lauterbach questionably shortens the convalescent status in Germany to three months, the traffic light at the EU level agrees to a convalescent status of six months.
It's completely haphazard," said Alexander Dobrindt, head of the CSU state group in the Bundestag, the "world".
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) demanded that the recovered status should apply again for six months.
The health policy spokesman for the Union faction, Tino Sorge (CDU), said: “Minister Lauterbach will have to explain to the public why Germany is going its own way.
Going it alone as a country in the middle of Europe would be questionable.« The government will have to reassess whether »the reduction overnight« was the right decision.
In the Bundestag, the recovered status should initially continue to apply for six months.
However, the Council of Elders wants to deal with the issue after criticism of unequal treatment of MPs.
as/dpa