1.
An omicron vaccine against a possible corona autumn wave is coming far too late - because
Europe's medicine guardians, unlike those in the USA, are demanding even more data
In the play Götz von Berlichingen, Goethe has one of his characters assert that “procrastination also has its joys”.
It is the guiding principle of all hesitant and procrastinators, as people are called who like to put off important tasks.
Unfortunately, in real life, the phrase often turns out to be wrong.
Probably also in the case of preparing for the feared wave of new infections with the corona virus this autumn.
An adapted omicron booster could be approved in the EU and then vaccinated at the earliest in mid-September, perhaps not until October or even November.
Why so late?
My colleagues Milena Hassenkamp and my colleague Thomas Schulz report today that the Omikron vaccine may not be available in Europe until November.
To the astonishment of many experts, the European Medicines Agency Ema does not want to commit itself to a date for vaccine approval and is demanding further study data on the adjustments from the manufacturers.
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Biontech Covid vaccine
Photo:
Robert Michael / dpa
When the omicron variant of the corona virus began to spread around the world, everything finally seemed to be moving quickly in Europe, the colleagues write.
»Politicians immediately pushed for a better vaccine, the manufacturers, above all Biontech, developed an adapted vaccine within a few weeks and started producing.« Brand new Omikron doses were already stacked up in countless freezers in the country by the end of March.
Biontech alone is said to have stored up to 100 million doses of Omicron booster for months: not approved, not vaccinated.
And now it's no longer up to date.
The cans are still based on the Omicron variant BA.1 that appeared first.
However, the more contagious subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 have long dominated the infection process.
At the end of June, the FDA in the USA expressly advised manufacturers to exclusively develop an omicron booster specializing in these two subtypes for the expected autumn wave.
The European Medicines Agency Ema, on the other hand, may continue to rely on the first omicron type BA.1.
Politically, it would be difficult to explain why a more up-to-date booster is used in the USA than in Germany.
"The FDA has enforced a different strategy," says Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach.
The company Biontech could probably deliver a booster adapted to BA4./5 as early as October.
That could mean that most of the cans that have been stored for months would be thrown away.
“The bickering about the omicron booster shows that a new generation of further developed Covid vaccines is needed as quickly as possible, one that covers the widest possible spectrum of variants and is not constantly being re-approved.
It works in a similar way with flu vaccines," says my colleague Thomas.
The regulatory authorities played it safe with their demand for more studies on an adapted vaccine.
"But the false hope that, thanks to a quiet summer with few infections, there would be no great time pressure, probably played a role."
Read the full story here: When is the Omicron vaccine finally coming?
2.
Olaf Scholz continues to be tight-lipped in the cum-ex scandal - but the discovery of cash from a party colleague in Hamburg increases the pressure on the Chancellor
Seen from Berlin, Hamburg appears to many people as a rather boring city - and even to me, who has lived in Hamburg for two and a half decades, it sometimes seems very peaceful here.
In the so-called cum-ex scandal, which has been occupying German politics for some time, Hamburg suddenly seems like a scene where things are somewhat wild.
Over the weekend, news about the cum-ex investigations became known, which revolve around the background to a tax exemption of 47 million euros for a Hamburg bank in 2016: more than 200,000 euros in cash are said to have been paid to the former Hamburg SPD member of the Bundestag Johannes Kahrs have been found.
The money was probably kept in a safe deposit box.
"It's unclear where the cash will come from," writes my colleague Timo Lehmann today.
"Such a large amount of cash could also have simple backgrounds, but there is no explanation from Kahrs." Timo's story is entitled "The bad summer awakening for Olaf Scholz".
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Photo: John MacDougall / AFP
Today's Chancellor Scholz was Hamburg's mayor in 2016 and met the bank shareholder Christian Olearius at the time, according to a diary entry.
After that, the Hamburg tax authorities had waived tax reclaims amounting to 47 million euros.
Is it all just a coincidence?
Or was there a direct influence?
Olearius and Warburg Bank deny having influenced politics.
So far, Scholz has claimed that he can't remember a lot.
Perhaps the investigations by the Cologne public prosecutor's office could help him along the way.
A spokesman for the Chancellor said today that Scholz was not aware of the sum in his party colleague's possession.
He can rule that out, the spokesman said.
At the end of next week, Scholz will again answer the questions of the committee of inquiry about the cum-ex scandal.
"Everything that needs to be said will be dealt with there."
Last week, the public prosecutor's office in Cologne sent a 140-page letter to the parliamentary investigative committee in Hamburg's parliament that could spoil the chancellor's summer mood.
In the past few days, new inconsistencies have surfaced.
The public prosecutor's office probably confiscated a WhatsApp message from a Hamburg tax officer.
Shortly after the ominous tax break for the Warburg Bank was announced, she wrote to a friend that her "diabolical plan" had worked.
The woman should now also testify in the investigative committee.
According to media reports, the public prosecutor's office has indications that emails may have been deleted and records manipulated in the tax authority.
How closely were the politicians Scholz and Kahrs connected in the past?
»Scholz and Kahrs have a long history in the SPD.
The relationship is said to have been ambivalent,” says my colleague Timo.
“But the connection to the Warburg Bank and Scholz and Kahrs affair is obvious.
Not only was Kahr's Hamburg Mitte district association given 38,000 euros in party donations from Warburg Bank subsidiaries, but now an unusually high sum of cash has turned up in a locker in the course of the Cum-ex investigation.
The inconsistencies at Kahrs are therefore also a problem for the Chancellor.«
Read the whole story here: The bad summer awakening for Olaf Scholz
3.
The expulsion of Gerhard Schröder from the SPD is off the table for the time being - some party members still want to get rid of him
Leading SPD politicians seem to be confronted with a lot of unpleasant things this summer.
According to some Social Democrats, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder should be thrown out of the party - because of his closeness to Vladimir Putin and his work for Russian state companies.
Today, an arbitral tribunal of the party announced that the former chancellor may stay for the time being.
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Gerhard Schroeder (SPD)
Photo:
Jens Schicke / IMAGO
According to the verdict of the arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district of Hanover, Schröder's commitment to Russian state-owned companies did not violate the SPD party order.
17 regional party associations had applied for exclusion proceedings against the former chancellor.
The decision announced today in his favor can be appealed within two weeks.
The Essen-Frohnhausen/Altendorf SPD local association is apparently considering this: “For us, nothing has changed in the attitude that Mr. Schröder should be expelled from the SPD,” said his local association chairman Ali Kaan Sevinc today.
In the reasoning of the arbitration commission there are "a few points that do not satisfy us".
The head of the federal SPD Lars Klingbeil described the verdict of the commission as a purely "legal decision".
For the party, one thing is certain: »Gerhard Schröder is politically isolated with his positions in the SPD.« After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, many people in Germany felt that Schröder did not sufficiently distance himself from Russia.
After all, in May he decided to give up his position on the supervisory board of the Rosneft group, and he also intends to forego a position on the supervisory board of the Russian gas company Gazprom.
Schröder was only recently back in Moscow, as a private citizen on an unclear mission.
He continues to be heavily criticized in his party, for example by SPD leader Saskia Esken: "Gerhard Schröder is not acting as an ex-chancellor, but as a businessman, and that's how we should interpret his statements," she said in an interview.
»With everything he does and says, he acts in his own interest and in that of his business partners.«
Read more here: Schröder may remain in the SPD
And here is more news and background information on the war in Ukraine:
Tichanovskaya expects resistance to the Ukraine war:
Belarus is supposed to support Russia in the war against Ukraine – but not fully so far.
The opposition member Svetlana Tichanovskaya sees no interest in her compatriots entering the war.
Occupiers in southern Ukraine are preparing a referendum on accession to Russia:
the Russian-occupied area of Zaporizhia is to become part of Russia by referendum.
The controversial maneuver is reminiscent of what happened in Crimea – the man behind the action is also from there.
Find all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine here: The News Update
(Would you like to receive the "Situation in the evening" conveniently by e-mail in your inbox? Order the daily briefing as a newsletter here.)
What else is important today
Restaurants in Taiwan allegedly prove belonging to China:
The conflict between China and Taiwan has been smoldering for months - the whole absurdity of the claims from Beijing has now been shown in a culinary tweet from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
9-euro ticket leads to more traffic:
relief for inflation-plagued citizens, redistribution, traffic turnaround - the hopes associated with the 9-euro ticket are enormous.
However, initial studies show that it leads to dubious effects.
Roger E. Mosley died in an accident:
He flew his buddy Thomas Magnum in the TV series by helicopter over Hawaii: The actor Roger E. Mosley died as a result of a car accident, he was 83 years old.
My favorite story today: »At the moment I like almost every picture out of protest«
For people who are no longer super young like me, the working world of influencers is a colourful, strange cosmos full of mysteries and highly interesting conflicts.
In her story, my colleague Kim Staudt writes about the »TikTokisation of Instagram«, why the frustration of influencer stars could become a problem for the platform, which belongs to Mark Zuckerberg's Meta group.
But she also writes that German influencers don’t want to be called that at all, but prefer to be called “content creators”.
The story revolves around how, to some users, Instagram recently looked like it had morphed into TikTok, with videos launching without being asked, a feed that filled the entire screen, and loads of posts from total strangers.
After protests, Instagram withdrew the controversial update, but presumably only for a while.
Kim interviewed some successful influencers.
"Masha, whose real name is Maria Astor, has been a content creator for more than ten years and also uses her Instagram channel to provide information about political debates," she writes.
For example, Masha campaigned for the right to abortion.
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
probably only for a while.
Kim interviewed some successful influencers.
"Masha, whose real name is Maria Astor, has been a content creator for more than ten years and also uses her Instagram channel to provide information about political debates," she writes.
For example, Masha campaigned for the right to abortion.
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
probably only for a while.
Kim interviewed some successful influencers.
"Masha, whose real name is Maria Astor, has been a content creator for more than ten years and also uses her Instagram channel to provide information about political debates," she writes.
For example, Masha campaigned for the right to abortion.
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
has been a content creator for more than ten years and also uses her Instagram channel to provide information about political debates," she writes.
For example, Masha campaigned for the right to abortion.
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
has been a content creator for more than ten years and also uses her Instagram channel to provide information about political debates," she writes.
For example, Masha campaigned for the right to abortion.
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
And how does Masha react to the change in Instagram?
"I'm already thinking about my photos: 'How can I turn these pictures into videos?'" For example, she lined up photos on a topic and made a video out of them.
Masha doesn't like being pushed in this direction: »We don't want to be forced to only have to make videos because nothing else is being shown.«
Read the whole story here: »At the moment I like almost every picture out of protest«
What we recommend at SPIEGEL+ today
Lindner wants to relieve citizens of ten billion euros:
higher basic allowance, higher income limits, more child benefit: According to SPIEGEL information, this is the concept with which Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants to react to the high inflation.
“The reactor will go offline at the end of the year.
Everything else makes no sense«:
Three nuclear power plants are still in operation, including one in Emsland.
A stretching operation is being discussed for them.
But Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Lies rejects this.
Here he explains how he nevertheless intends to ensure energy security.
"At the moment I like almost every picture as a protest":
Influencers have been criticizing the development of Instagram for a long time, recently there was an escalation due to a controversial update.
Star user frustration could become a problem for Mark Zuckerberg.
Which is less important today
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Photo:
Al Bello/Getty Images
Ironclad protest.
Mike Tyson, 56,
once a boxer nicknamed "Iron Mike", is angry with the US streaming service Hulu and its biographical TV series about him.
The eight-part series »Mike«, which is scheduled to start on August 25, apparently tells the life story of the boxer who grew up in the Brooklyn borough of New York, was crowned world heavyweight boxing champion in the 1980s and was convicted of a rape in 1992.
Mike Tyson accuses the Hulu bosses on Twitter of "stealing" his life story and does not see himself as an isolated case.
"Hulus' model of stealing the rights to celebrity life stories is tremendously greedy."
Typo of the day
, now corrected: "Almost 500 billion dollars are estimated to finally ignite America's long overdue environmental change"
Cartoon of the Day:
Global Despair
And tonight?
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Photo: Linda Rosa Saal / No & Buts
Could you read an entertaining book that suits the hot season.
Franziska Gänsler's debut novel »Ewig Sommer« tells of a near future in which the climate crisis determines everyday life in Germany - and of three women, one of whom has kept her sense of humor even in times of drought.
My colleague Jana Felgenhauer praises the author's "calm and accurate" language and finds the exhilarated of the three heroines very amusing.
"Above everything is the big question: Is it possible that one - as an individual and as a society - has taken a fundamentally wrong path?" writes Jana, "with no possibility of turning back?"
A lovely evening.
Yours sincerely,
Wolfgang Hoebel
Here you can order the »Situation in the Evening« by e-mail.
