Germany announced this Thursday (2) new restrictions on citizens not vaccinated against Covid as a way to contain the increase in cases of the disease in the country, which recorded on Wednesday (1) the highest number of deaths from coronaviruses in recent years nine months.
Those who did not receive doses of the immunizing agent will be prevented from accessing almost all establishments, except supermarkets and pharmacies, said Prime Minister Angela Merkel. Additional tests will also be offered to citizens already immunized.
The leader of the biggest European economy also said that mandatory vaccination could be defined by the country from February, if approved by the Bundestag, the German parliament. The comment comes a day after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speculated a similar move for the bloc.
The German Prime Minister once again highlighted that the situation of Covid in the country is “very serious”, with an increase in the number of cases and vaccine hesitation higher than in other European countries and the discovery of cases of the omicron variant, which is potentially more transmissible.
The Robert Koch Institute, the nation’s federal disease control agency, reported 446 deaths from the disease this Wednesday — the highest daily figure since Feb. 18.
The incidence rate in the last seven days per 100,000 inhabitants, however, fell for the third consecutive day: 439.2, against 452.2 on Tuesday. But local epidemiologists say that if it goes like this, the country could have 6,000 people with Covid in intensive care by the Christmas holiday, regardless of what mitigation measures authorities take.
To avoid a lockdown that could derail the country’s fragile recovery, Merkel and her successor, Olaf​ Scholz, preferred to keep businesses open for nearly 69% of the population that is fully vaccinated, as well as for those with evidence of having recovered from Covid -19.
This vaccination rate of almost 70% is on average in the European Union, but it is lower than that of countries like Portugal and Ireland.
Merkel said an ethics committee will be asked to draft legislation to make vaccination mandatory. The prime minister, who called the restrictions a necessary “national act of solidarity”, said that in regions where the weekly incidence reaches 350, measures such as closing nightclubs and limiting closed events to a maximum of 50 people must be adopted.
Controlling the virus will be one of the top priorities for Scholz, leader of the Social Democrats, who will govern alongside the green progressives and the (liberal) FDP. Scholz, who will formally assume power next week, said Germany would try to administer another 30 million doses of Covid vaccines by Christmas.
On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that mandatory vaccination should not be ruled out as public policy.
Public health rules in the European bloc are decided by national governments, and, on Tuesday (30), Greece announced that it will start fining residents aged 60 and over who do not get immunized by January 16th. Austria, on the other hand, intends to make the anti-Covid vaccine compulsory as of February.
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