Preparations for the next wave: Lauterbach's Corona plan for autumn 2022

Created: 05/18/2022, 16:00

By: Martina Lippl

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) at a press conference on the Corona situation in Berlin.

© Frederic Kern/imgo

Summer is here - and Corona?

Are we slipping into the third Corona fall unprepared?

Federal Health Minister Lauterbach is leaking the first details of his plans.

Munich/ Berlin - party, football stadium or travel - almost everything seems possible at the moment despite Corona.

Most Corona rules have fallen.

Only the obligation to wear masks on public transport or on holiday flights may remind you that the virus exists.

After more than two years, the number of infections or incidences hardly play a role for many.

Virologists are already warning of the next corona wave in autumn.

According to a model forecast by the TU Berlin, the prospects for autumn 2022 are rather sobering.

And the Corona situation has already eased in the past few summers.

Then, in the fall, that changed abruptly.

Infection numbers exploded after the summer holidays – only then did politicians react.

Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) wants to do things differently this fall.

So far, however, a concept has been missing.

Lauterbach: "We have to be prepared for virus variants"

"In a few days, in a short time, I will present a plan that I have also coordinated very closely with the Federal Chancellery on how to manage the pandemic in the fall," announced Lauterbach in a

interview on Tuesday.

Purchases of adapted vaccines, open vaccination centers and a more creative vaccination campaign would be prepared.

The reporting system to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) should also be improved.

Apparently the vaccine deal worked.

At a press conference in Berlin this Wednesday, Lauterbach announced the purchase (830 million euros) of a corona vaccine for autumn 2022. "We want to offer everyone a fourth vaccination," emphasizes Lauterbach.

Since vaccination cannot be carried out overnight, the vaccination centers should also remain open.

Corona wave in autumn: Lauterbach prepares vaccination campaign

Three corona vaccines are to be available to those wanting to be vaccinated in autumn 2022, including an adapted omicron vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer and a "bivalent" vaccine from Moderna.

"We have to be prepared for virus variants," Lauterbach defends his vaccine purchase.

“If a vaccine works well against a variant, there must be enough vaccine available.” The SPD minister takes the expiry of the vaccine into account.

When asked by a journalist, Lauterbach conceded that the old vaccine would already expire.

The vaccines came from contracts before this legislative period, but this strategy was correct.

All vaccines are intended as single doses.

There is also enough vaccine available for groups who want to be vaccinated three more times.

Lauterbach does not currently expect a general recommendation from the Standing Vaccination Committee (Stiko) for a fourth vaccination in the fall.

"It depends on how the infection process changes and how the virus variant changes."

Countries are calling for a Corona master plan for autumn 2022

In order to be prepared for a new wave of corona, the health ministers of the federal states on Monday called for a “master plan” coordinated with the federal states and an adjustment to the Infection Protection Act.

In a resolution passed unanimously by the federal states, the federal government was asked to initiate the legislative process as soon as possible.

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"I think a new infection protection law for the winter is right," said Lauterbach in Berlin.

However, the minister did not want to name any specific measures.

He wants to discuss proposals with the cabinet first.

The recently amended Infection Protection Act runs until September 23. 

Lauterbach: "The vaccination requirement is dead"

According to Lauterbach, the general obligation to vaccinate has failed.

There are still gaps in vaccination that would make work in the fall much more difficult, said the Minister of Health in the

interview: "And compulsory vaccination would be very useful, but we can't get through it, so it's dead."

"The pandemic will not be the last," said Lauterbach in Berlin.

That is why fighting the pandemic should be a central topic at the meeting of the G7 health ministers on Thursday and Friday in Berlin.

Ministers should agree on a global "pandemic pact" at their meeting, he said.

The aim is to react more quickly to future pandemics worldwide.

It is important to monitor outbreaks, intervene more quickly and develop drugs and vaccines more quickly.

To this end, the G7 ministers would take a “pioneering shot”, said Lauterbach.