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Drive-in test center in Hamburg
Photo: Georg Wendt / dpa
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Report: Justice Department Draft on Relaxation for Vaccinated People
5.15 a.m.:
According to a "Bild" report, the Federal
Ministry of
Justice has developed a template according to which state restrictions on people vaccinated against corona could be eliminated.
In the paper for the Prime Minister's Conference on Monday it says: According to the latest findings of the Robert Koch Institute, it can be assumed that those who have been vaccinated and recovered have a lower risk of infecting other people than those who tested negative with an antigen test.
Therefore, the relief or the exceptions are also provided for vaccinated and convalescent people.
The paper is still being voted on, it said.
more on the subject
Data from Great Britain: first vaccination reduces corona risk by two thirds
Individual risk assessment: vaccinating once is less risky than a week's skiing vacationBy Nina Weber
According to Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), the delicate question of which restrictions should be removed for vaccinated people will be at the center of the Prime Minister's Conference. One aspect is: "How do I treat fully vaccinated people in relation to those who are tested negative on the day?" Full vaccination protection can be equated with a negative test result. According to the CDU politician on Friday, this applies to the elimination of the quarantine obligation after contact with an infected person, the rules for entry regulations and opening steps, for example for shops.
On Friday it was also said that the government was preparing an overview of the legal issues for the round of country leaders.
The federal government could make possible implementations with the authorization for ordinances introduced in the Infection Protection Act - with the consent of the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
Intensive care units in Belgium at the limit
5:05 a.m.:
In view of the devastating third corona wave in Belgium, the country's health ministry warned on Friday that the intensive care units would be overloaded.
Around 900 of the 2000 intensive care beds in Belgium are occupied with Covid 19 patients.
The official Marcel Van der Auwera said that the employees in the intensive care units were "exhausted".
According to him, Germany agreed to accept Belgian Covid patients.
The employees in the intensive care units had been giving "130 percent" for a month, said Van der Auwera.
The tense situation is likely to continue for "two or three weeks."
Because of the high occupancy of the intensive care beds available in Belgium with Covid patients, many hospitals have difficulties treating other emergencies, such as victims of car accidents.
On Friday there were only 82 free intensive care beds in Belgium for such cases, said Van der Auwera.
After a request from Brussels, Germany agreed to accept patients from the neighboring country.
Covid patients had already been transferred from Belgium to Germany during the second corona wave in November.
Despite the dramatic situation in the hospitals, the government of Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is sticking to the easing of the corona lockdown planned for the beginning of May.
Restaurants and cafes will be allowed to reopen their outdoor areas from May 8th, confirmed De Croo on Friday.
Four guests are then allowed per table.
The easing is possible because the vaccination campaign in Belgium is progressing better "than expected".
The number of daily new corona infections in Belgium averaged over 3500 in the past seven days. 2.5 million of the 11.5 million inhabitants of the country have already received at least one corona vaccination.
150,000 people use the reporting app after corona vaccination
04.35 a.m.:
Since the start of the vaccination campaign, more than 150,000 people have reported to the authorities via a smartphone app how well they tolerated the vaccination.
According to the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) in Langen, that was 1.5 percent of those vaccinated so far.
The more people who have been vaccinated use the “SafeVac 2.0” app, the more meaningful the data.
"These data help to ensure that the tolerance of the vaccine can be assessed even better in broad application beyond the clinical trials prior to approval," according to the PEI.
The information is encrypted and stored on the smartphone and sent to the PEI with a random number.
Participants are asked in detail about health problems after each vaccination: seven times within three weeks of the first vaccination and eight times within four weeks of the second vaccination.
Further surveys will follow six and twelve months after the last vaccination.
It is also asked whether the participants later became infected with corona despite the vaccination and whether they fell ill with Covid-19, i.e. developed symptoms.
Chancellery welcomes the lifting of vaccination prioritization at AstraZeneca
04.15 a.m.:
Chancellery Minister Helge Braun welcomes the lifting of the prioritization of the AstraZeneca vaccine in general practitioners' practices in several federal states.
"If by dropping the prioritization, AstraZeneca is now inoculated more quickly in the general practitioners' practices, then that is very, very good," said the CDU politician of the "Augsburger Allgemeine".
"It's a good and safe vaccine."
You have to talk to someone who wants to be vaccinated about whether they have a particular tendency to thrombosis, said Braun.
“In such a case, it would not be recommended, but otherwise the doctor can decide.
I welcome that. "
After the lifting of priorities in several federal states, the chairman of the German Association of General Practitioners, Ulrich Weigeldt, appealed to patients to write an email if possible.
"If the telephone lines are permanently busy, it will not help anyone," Weigeldt told the editorial network Germany (RND).
With a view to concerns about AstraZeneca, Braun said: "Precisely because medicine is so conscientious and tries to minimize even small risks, many people perceive risks to be significantly greater." It is the task of doctors to explain the risk ratio and to make it clear that vaccines that are approved in Europe have a very high level of safety.
In Saxony, Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, the AstraZeneca vaccine was released for all age groups this week.
For people under 60 years of age, the vaccination should only be given after extensive advice.
EPP boss Weber: suspend all flight connections from India to the EU
03.10 a.m.:
In view of the dramatic corona infection situation in India, the head of the EPP faction in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber (CSU), has called for the immediate suspension of all flight connections from the emerging South Asian country to the EU.
Weber justified his advance in the "Bild" newspaper with the Corona variant, which is rampant in India.
"The Indian double variant seems to be spreading rapidly and the situation there is threatening to get out of hand," he warned.
Some corona infections with the Indian mutant have already occurred in Germany and the EU, Weber emphasized.
"This time the EU interior ministers must act faster and more consistently and immediately impose a temporary ban on flights from India and entry restrictions."
Weber pointed out in the »Bild« that Canada and Great Britain had already taken appropriate steps.
Overall, the EU countries would have to "become better and faster in a coordinated approach due to the dynamics of the corona pandemic."
The CEO of the World Medical Association, Frank Ulrich Montgomery, also spoke out in favor of protective measures against the Indian variant of the Corona.
"The Indian mutation variant of the virus, which is said to be particularly contagious and particularly dangerous, clearly shows us how important international agreements, consistent lockdown measures and restrictions on mobility are," he told the "Rheinische Post".
"Mutations can only take place where infections occur," says Montgomery.
Therefore, the German Infection Protection Act, which provides for an emergency brake nationwide from a seven-day incidence of 100 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants, is correct.
"That's why we need contact restrictions and a consistent, uniform approach," he said.
The number of corona infections in India had recently risen dramatically.
On Friday, the authorities reported a further 330,000 new infections within 24 hours and 2,000 new deaths.
The hospitals in India are overloaded, and in many places the oxygen supplies for ventilation of Covid-19 patients are running out.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has classified India as a high incidence area, the classification comes into force on Sunday at midnight.
According to the RKI, 21 corona infections with the Indian variant B.1.617 have been detected in Germany so far.
The Foreign Office warns against unnecessary tourist trips to India.
Altmeier: No quick freedom for vaccinated people
02.20 a.m.:
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) dampens expectations, vaccinated people could quickly get more freedom. "Currently over 20 percent have received a primary vaccination," Altmaier told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “I expect we can talk about exceptions in June or July. So whether people who have been vaccinated twice can be spared staying in quarantine - for example after contact with infected people or after trips abroad. "He could also well imagine that" people can visit a restaurant without having to do a quick test beforehand. "
Altmeier continues to defend the curfew.
"In practically all neighboring countries it has been shown that such curfews are not only legal, but can also make an effective contribution to reducing the risk of infection."
From his point of view, this proves proportionality.
"As long as over 1,000 people die from Corona every week, we cannot do without them."
Trudeau is vaccinated against corona with AstraZeneca vaccine
1.30 a.m.:
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received his first corona vaccination with the vaccine from the manufacturer AstraZeneca.
Accompanied by his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the 49-year-old head of government took off his shirt on Friday in a pharmacy in Ottawa in front of the cameras to get the injection.
He called on the Canadians to arrange a vaccination appointment as soon as possible.
Reports of rare cases of blood clots associated with AstraZeneca vaccinations had sparked fears around the world.
In many countries, including Germany, age limits have been introduced for vaccination with AstraZeneca because of blood clot cases.
However, a Canadian panel of experts advising the Ottawa government on health issues said Friday that the vaccine was safe for anyone over the age of 30.
Most of the ten Canadian provinces currently recommend vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine only for people over 40 or 45 years of age.
Most recently, the province of Ontario, in which the Canadian capital Ottawa is located, offered all citizens over 40 years of age a vaccination offer.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received the vaccine from AstraZeneca
Photo: Adrian Wyld / dpa
Trudeau's wife Sophie contracted the corona virus in March of last year.
The prime minister had to isolate himself at his home in Ottawa at the time.
Trudeau on Friday called it a "relief to know that a simple gesture" like vaccination would help protect yourself and your loved ones.
"So when it's your turn, I invite you to make an appointment as soon as possible," he said.
A total of four corona vaccines are approved in Canada.
So far, 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been inoculated in the country.
The Canadian health authorities have recorded four cases of blood clots related to the AstraZeneca vaccinations.
According to the information, all those affected have now recovered.
cop / dpa / AFP / AP / Reuters
