Timo Lenzen / DER SPIEGEL
Dear readers,
finally there is good news.
The government has procured enough vaccine to ensure that all adults can be vaccinated by the end of May.
All risk groups should be vaccinated by May 1st at the latest, after which the prioritization should be lifted.
The goal: At the beginning of July, barbecues should be possible again in a larger group.
Great prospects, right?
Unfortunately only for Americans.
It was US President Joe Biden who promised his compatriots in a speech on Thursday that he would use a tremendous effort to return the country from the corona pandemic to something like normality (barbecue) by the national holiday on July 4th at the latest.
This should succeed not least through unprecedented mobilization.
Thousands of helpers are supposed to distribute the vaccinations: dentists and ophthalmologists, medical assistants, midwives, paramedics, even veterinarians - everyone who has learned to use an injection is called in.
This spirit is appropriate to the crisis.
And suddenly America is actually First.
And we?
Unfortunately, jerking afterwards.
There is certainly no lack of full-bodied promises in this country either.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) assured that in this country volumes of ten million vaccinations per week would be possible from the end of March.
But something is always stuck.
General practitioners are the best example.
You should (after many other things) be the new game changer, bring the breakthrough in the vaccination campaign.
After much doubt as to whether they can be trusted to adhere to the vaccination prioritization and to vaccinate the right people first, it should start soon.
But the start of this phase, originally planned for the beginning of April, has now been postponed to mid-April - because there is simply not enough vaccine for the doctors to administer.
In this situation, it does not help that some countries have stopped supplying AstraZeneca vaccine because thrombosis occurred in some patients as a result of the vaccination.
On the one hand, this delays the vaccination campaign.
Above all, however, skepticism about the vaccine, which is not particularly popular anyway, is likely to rise again.
A number of doctors have therefore urgently spoken out in favor of lifting the stop.
You can read more about the background and considerations behind these requirements here.
Oh, and I still owe you one answer.
I think that in July we can also celebrate barbecues in large numbers.
Unfortunately not until 2022.
The new SPIEGEL, now digital, tomorrow at the kiosk
"Black felt - mask affair, purchasability, crisis failure: the deep fall of the Union," is the title of the new SPIEGEL. You
will
receive the digital copy from now on
and from Saturday at the kiosk.
Everything you need to know about vaccination
Protection against Covid-19: EU authority recommends vaccine from Johnson & Johnson
Another vaccine will soon be available in the EU.
The European Medicines Agency now also recommends the product from Johnson & Johnson.
It has a great advantage.
Approval recommendation for Johnson & Johnson: What connects the Covid-19 vaccines - and what differentiates
them The fourth vaccine against Covid-19 could soon be available in the EU.
Some of the funds differ in their application, availability and effectiveness.
The overview.
Prioritization is canceled: Saxony's dangerous vaccination experiment
Actually, a clear prioritization regulates that in Germany the old and the weak are vaccinated against Corona first.
Now Saxony is leaving.
What are the consequences?
Family doctor capacity: "One million Covid vaccinations per day"
Family doctors should soon be able to vaccinate their patients against corona.
Martin Scherer, President of the Society for General Practice, explains how this can be achieved and in which cases doctors can deviate from the vaccination sequence.
When, in which order, dates: Corona vaccinations at the family doctor - what you should know
now There are significantly more vaccines available, so family doctors should finally administer the vaccines from April.
Three questions, three answers.
Health ministers agree: Corona vaccinations in medical practices from mid-April
Corona vaccinations in Germany should also be possible
in medical practices by mid-April at the
latest.
The federal and state health ministers agreed on this.
Far-reaching easing in the USA: Where vaccinated people can celebrate together again
While in Germany there are arguments about privileges for vaccinated people, the USA is much further: Those who are fully immunized can meet up with others again - inside, without a mask.
Critics consider this dangerous.
AstraZeneca: US dispute over vaccine exports to Europe
Millions of doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine are dumped in the US.
The vaccine is not yet approved there.
Now the group would like to export the cans to the EU - but is not allowed to.
The pause button for AstraZeneca
Coagulation disorders after AstraZeneca vaccinations: »More coincidence than cause«
In several countries, the AstraZeneca substance is currently not vaccinated because some people who have been vaccinated have had health problems.
But what conclusions do the data allow - and is the benefit greater than the harm?
AstraZeneca vaccine: Several EU countries suspend corona vaccinations
After reports of coagulation disorders, several EU
countries are suspending
vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Germany does not want to take this step for the time being.
AstraZeneca: Denmark suspends corona vaccinations as a precaution.A
causal link has not yet been established, but for safety reasons, the AstraZeneca vaccine is temporarily no longer inoculated in Denmark.
The reason: reports of coagulation disorders.
Icon: enlarge
Time researchers on the consequences of the corona crisis: "The pandemic offers the chance to free yourself from the clock dictatorship"
Photo:
Anton Petrus / Getty Images
Covid-19 in worldwide numbers
Confirmed Cases: 118,671,830
Deaths: 2,637,758
Recovered from disease: 67,201,590
Germany: 2,545,781 confirmed patients, 73,602 deaths
Sources: CSSE / Johns Hopkins University, as of March 12, 2021, 12.25 p.m.
Robert Koch Institute, as of March 12, 2021, 3:21 a.m.
Research news
Corona evidence: there is more than just PCR
Whether someone is infected with the coronavirus can be clarified using a rapid antigen test and PCR.
However, research is working on other methods to, among other things, identify mutants more quickly.
Study from Great Britain: Corona variant B.1.1.7 is more deadly than the original virus It is more
contagious than the conventional
corona virus
anyway.
Now a British study with almost 110,000 corona infected people shows: The mutant B.1.1.7 is also more deadly - probably by more than 60 percent.
Distracted Immune System: Why Pollen
Could Increase the Risk of Corona A current study shows that corona infections increase after pollen-rich days.
How can the connection be explained?
And how big is the risk?
Russian vaccine: Expert warns of emergency approval of Sputnik V in Europe
The test procedure for the Russian vaccine Sputnik V in Europe is ongoing.
Some EU countries are rushing forward and are considering unauthorized emergency approvals.
A daring step, says an expert.
What else was important
The big fact check: Sweden's special route has failed. Or?
Incidence at 263, but currently a relatively low case mortality: The strategy of the Swedish government is controversial worldwide.
What makes it better, what makes it worse?
Eight questions, eight answers.
South Africa expects a third corona wave: "It will be devastating for the country"
Despite the dangerous mutant, the second corona wave in South Africa is over.
But the country has only a short break ahead of it, fears government advisor Glenda Gray.
Health expert on risk factors: Why do so many people with a migration background end up on Covid wards?
The Cologne social psychologist Musa Deli says which social and cultural factors increase the risk of infection - and what role weddings play in the spread of the virus.
Have a nice weekend
Yours Michail Hengstenberg
What you need to know about the virus
We have put together all the answers to the most important questions about the coronavirus for you here.
You can find more current developments at SPIEGEL.de.