Covid: why Germany is caught before France, by a new wave – The HuffPost

CORONAVIRUS – The sick man of Europe? If we exclude the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the countries in Europe facing the most severe rise in cases of Covid. The country, which has long been a model compared to France for its record in the face of the pandemic, is today pale. In question a rate of vaccination lower than all the other countries of Western Europe, like Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom or France.

Since the end of the summer, the bad figures have accumulated for Berlin. An incidence rate that exploded in October, reaching today 146 cases of Covid per 100,000 inhabitants, against 61 in France. Same observation on the emergency front: with 2325 people in intensive care with Covid on November 4, the records of last June have been exceeded.

The numbers are not good, and the trend does little to encourage optimism, including on the coronavirus-related death front. There were 75 deaths from Covid in Germany on October 15, 109 deaths on October 21, 165 deaths on November 3 … in France, overseas included, except for a short rise in September, the daily report does not has not exceeded 60 deaths since the start of the summer.

Germany, relatively spared by the epidemic compared to its neighbors, has returned to levels it experienced in the spring of 2021. The situation is therefore more than serious for the government, and the boss of the Robert Koch Institute (the German health agency) qualifies it without ambiguity: “The fourth wave is developing exactly as we feared.”, he thus declared during a press point on November 3.

A stalled vaccination rate

Because the defect in the German armor is known. The country has not vaccinated enough. It even places itself, along with Austria and Switzerland, in the tail of Western European countries, with 66.9% of the total population having received a “complete vaccination schedule”, ie. ie the two injections for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. In France, the vaccination rate is 73.9%, and these few points make all the difference.

“We are experiencing a massive pandemic of the unvaccinated”, roared, on Wednesday 3 November, the German Minister of Health Jens Spahn, questioning this part of the population still resistant to vaccination. Because if in France, the movement “antivax”Exists, it is much more massive across the Rhine. And besides, very sure of his opinions.

a survey, carried out by the German authorities among 3,000 unvaccinated people on October 18, leaves little doubt about the efforts that will be required to increase the vaccination rate. 65% of those questioned declared that they “in no case” wanted to be vaccinated, and 23% declared that they “rather not”. This leaves a meager 10% of respondents saying they are “fairly ready” to be vaccinated … and 2% eagerly. For them, not being vaccinated is a choice.

The German government is trying to put pressure on this population, in particular the 18-59 year olds, who are only 72% vaccinated, against 86.8% for those over 60 years old, especially since they are today the most affected by Covid. But the task is not easy, firstly because unlike France, Germany has so far adopted different rules depending on each of its regions, or Länder, by virtue of its federal constitution. .

The puzzle of the Länder

Concretely, if the health pass is used throughout the country, it is not necessarily necessary to be vaccinated in some Länder, but a negative test is sufficient, for example to go to a restaurant or a museum. Same sovereignty of the German regions with regard to schools: the choice or not to impose the mask on the pupils is up to them. Faced with the rise of this new wave, many local governments have nevertheless decided to toughen the rules in force.

These regional differences go hand in hand with a policy less authoritarian than other countries by Berlin, especially when compared to that followed by Paris. The caregivers were thus not forced to be vaccinated to continue working, and there is still no question of it, as the German Minister of Health reaffirmed during his press briefing. The latter preferred to concentrate his efforts on another aspect that worries the authorities: that of the third dose.

Here too, the country is lagging behind on its own forecast: since the summer, when the third injection became possible for all adults over the age of 12, the government predicted that 15 million people would receive the booster by now. at the end of the year: today we are very far from the mark, with around 2 million people.

The lack of enthusiasm of the population is the cause, but also a certain logistical disorganization. Since September, the country has put on “pause” the vaccination centers, to rest the vaccination effort, now more limited in quantity, on doctors, pharmacists and nurses. An organization that has not proven itself.

To remedy the situation Jens Spahn proposed, on November 1 in a interview to the local press, to “reopen” the famous centers … To the great displeasure of the Länder, responsible, again, for the implementation of vaccination in the field. The measure would require significant logistical work, would trigger the ire of doctors, but for many, the real problem is not there.

“The problem”, reacted the Minister of Health of the Land of Brandenburg, “it is not the way in which the vaccination is organized, but the fact that fewer and fewer people are being vaccinated.” In other words, the problem in Germany is not to be able to be vaccinated, but to want it.

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