NewsClear message: Stiko boss thinks vaccination is the wrong...

Clear message: Stiko boss thinks vaccination is the wrong way – which he proposes instead

The RKI reports more than 81,000 new corona infections in Germany on Thursday morning. Meanwhile, Stiko boss Thomas Mertens is against compulsory vaccination. The news ticker.

  • The RKI reports a new Corona * record for Germany (see update from January 13, 6.30 a.m.).
  • The Luca app is under scrutiny. One state has already decided (see updates from January 13, 6:30 a.m. and January 12, 5:05 p.m.) .
  • Stiko boss Thomas Mertens questions the sense of mandatory vaccination (see update from January 13, 8:40 p.m.).
  • This news ticker will no longer be updated. All current information can be found in our current news ticker.

Update from January 13, 9:45 p.m .: The new quarantine rules have cleared the next hurdle. The Bundestag agrees to the new regulation, on Friday the Bundesrat still has to give its okay. The decision of the federal and state governments provides that triple vaccinated contact persons of corona infected people no longer have to isolate themselves. In addition, shorter quarantine times are made possible in order to prevent the personnel collapse of important care areas in the event of a sharp increase in the number of infections. The new quarantine and isolation rules must be implemented by state regulations that are already in preparation.

Update from January 13, 8:40 p.m .: While the Bundestag counteracts a debate about general vaccination, Thomas Mertens rejects it. In an interview with the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and the Stuttgarter Zeitung (Friday editions), the chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko) criticized: “It divides society, too much pressure is built up.” For him, further persuasion and education about vaccination are the right way. In addition, in the case of compulsory vaccination, it is not necessarily to be expected that the “envisaged goal can actually be achieved”.

Mertens also emphasized that a legal obligation to vaccinate is only worth as much as it can be effectively implemented. That’s why the virologist also asked the question: “What do you do with those who refuse?” These people might not be swayed by a fine. In addition, even a quick vaccination cannot break the current corona wave.

Eddy about the Luca app: the police wanted to use data in other cases

Update from January 13, 4:55 p.m .: More and more cases are becoming known in which the police in Baden-Württemberg wanted to get the data from the Luca app. Cases are now known in Heidelberg and in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district, previously an inquiry in Heilbronn had come to light. First, the SWR reported about it. All requests were denied for legal reasons.

A spokesman for the Mannheim police headquarters confirmed that the police in Heidelberg had asked the health department whether they could access data from the Luca app, without giving any further details. The Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district office said that there was also a demand from the security authorities in its area. A spokesman would not say exactly what was going on. The police in Freiburg said they were investigating the matter.

Update from January 13, 4:15 p.m .: So far it has been possible for children and young people to get a booster vaccination. But now the Standing Vaccination Commission has also made a recommendation.

Update from January 13, 3 p.m.: The Corona numbers have broken a new record for the second day in a row (see update from January 13, 6.30 a.m.). And numerous corona patients also have to be treated in the intensive care units. Almost two thirds of these newly admitted corona patients in intensive care units are unvaccinated. This is the result of a joint investigation by the Robert Koch Institute and the DIVI association of intensive care physicians, as the two organizations announced on Thursday.

According to this, of the almost 9,000 intensive care patients whose vaccination status was known, 62 percent were unvaccinated. 10 percent had incomplete immune protection (recovery without vaccination or partial immunization), 28 percent had complete basic immunization or already had a booster vaccination. The survey relates to the period December 14, 2021 to January 12, 2022.

Behandlung von Corona-Patienten auf der Intensivstation

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A patient suffering from corona is lying in a room in the intensive care unit of UK Greifswald.

Corona in Germany: the pace of vaccination is picking up again

Update from January 13, 11 a.m.: The vaccinations against the corona virus are progressing a little faster in Germany. 780,000 vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday, around 66,000 more than the day before. The Robert Koch Institute in Berlin announced this on Thursday via its dashboard. On average over the past 7 days there have been 593,000 vaccinations per day, i.e. 7 people per second.

According to the RKI, at least 60.1 million people or 72.3 percent of the total population have been vaccinated twice or have received the single vaccination from Johnson & Johnson. The federal government is aiming for 80 percent by the end of January. 37.5 million or 45.1 percent have already received a booster vaccination. 20.9 million people or a good quarter of the population are still not vaccinated. This also includes 4.0 million small children up to the age of 4 for whom no vaccine has yet been approved.

Corona in Germany: Lauterbach already sees a new vaccination target in danger

Update from January 13, 9.40 a.m .: According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, the federal government’s corona vaccination target by the end of January is in great danger. The SPD politician told the news portal The Pioneer: “It will be very difficult, that’s clear.” According to the plans of the traffic light coalition, 80 percent of the people in Germany should be vaccinated at least once by the end of January. As of Wednesday morning, 74.8 percent – or 62.2 million people – had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Lauterbach said there was a drop in vaccinations over the holiday. “That’s why we have to push it again. But it’s not worth complaining about,” the minister said. “We have to work flat out.” On Tuesday, more than 710,000 vaccine doses were administered in Germany, including 48,500 initial vaccinations. On Monday there were more than 520,000 vaccinations, including 34,700 primary vaccinations.

Corona in Germany: RKI publishes another corona high

Update from January 13, 6.30 a.m .: The number of new corona infections transmitted to the Robert Koch Institute within one day has again reached a high. According to the RKI, the health authorities reported 81,417 cases in 24 hours on Thursday morning. This is evident from numbers that reflect the status of the RKI dashboard at 5 a.m. On Wednesday, the number exceeded the 80,000 threshold for the first time. Exactly one week ago there were 64,340 new infections recorded, although there were gaps in tests and reports during the holidays. The RKI gave the seven-day incidence as 427.7. For comparison: the day before the value was 407.5. A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 285.9 (previous month: 389.2).

According to the new information, 316 deaths were recorded across Germany within 24 hours. A week ago there were 443 deaths. The RKI has counted 7,743,228 proven infections with Sars-CoV-2 since the beginning of the pandemic. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected. The RKI gave the number of corona patients admitted to clinics per 100,000 inhabitants within seven days as 3.13 on Wednesday (3.34 on Tuesday). The RKI gave the number of recovered people on Thursday morning as 6,878,100. The number of people who died from or involved a proven infection with Sars-CoV-2 rose to 115,051.

Corona in Germany: Luca app contracts are being checked – data protection officers concerned

The future of the Luca app for tracking contacts in the corona pandemic is still open in almost all federal states with a Luca license. While a decision has already been made in Schleswig-Holstein to terminate the contract with the private operator, twelve countries are only examining this, according to a survey by the German Press Agency. Three states do not have a contract: North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Thuringia, but individual health authorities also use the app there.

The Luca app is intended to help restaurant owners and event organizers to record visitor contacts, which is required by law in most federal states, without paperwork. It can be connected directly to the health authorities. Vaccination certificates can also be deposited. The federal government’s Corona warning app informs citizens anonymously about a possible risk of infection. Data protectionists see risks in the central storage of data at Luca, the manufacturers refer to protection through encryption technology. The app is used with varying degrees of frequency by health authorities. The German District Association assesses Luca positively. “The Luca system can relieve the health authorities and should therefore continue to be used,” said a spokeswoman.

“No reason to hold on to Luca”: Schleswig-Holstein is the first federal state to terminate a contract with an app

Update from January 12, 5:05 p.m .: According to a report in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Schleswig-Holstein was the first federal state to terminate the contract with the company behind the Luca app. Since the state has lifted the obligation to collect contact data and there is no sign of a reintroduction, there is “no reason to hold on to Luca,” said the managing director of the Schleswig-Holstein district association, Sönke Schulz, the newspaper on Wednesday.

The Luca app is used to track contacts, so guests can register in restaurants, for example. Schulz said: “Until the obligation to collect contact data was lifted, the health authorities gave us positive feedback on the use of Luca.” However, Luca use then fell sharply.

A spokeswoman for Luca manufacturer Nexenio GmbH told the newspaper that the termination of Schleswig-Holstein will probably not affect the decisions of other federal states. The system behind the Luca app is currently connected to the health authorities in 13 of 16 federal states for corona contact tracing. The annual contracts expire in the spring. According to the report, the contracts will be extended by another year if they are not terminated.

Corona in Germany: Offer for a fourth corona vaccination required for everyone by summer

Update from January 12, 2:04 p.m .: The board of directors of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, Eugen Brysch, calls for a fourth corona vaccination to be offered for everyone by summer. “Everyone should be given the opportunity to take advantage of a fourth vaccination offer with the currently available active ingredients by the summer,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group . With a vaccine adapted to new virus variants, things look different. According to Brysch, the Bundestag must have prioritized the distribution for this by June at the latest. The elderly, those in need of care and the seriously ill should not be the losers here.

The intensive care physician Christian Karagiannidis, on the other hand, advised against offering a fourth corona vaccination. “With a systematic fourth vaccination, we should wait until an adapted vaccine is available,” said the member of the German government’s Corona Expert Council.

Eugen Brysch bei einer Bundespressekonferenz.

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Eugen Brysch, board member of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, calls for a fourth corona vaccination to be offered by summer. (archive image)

Corona in Germany: Bremen is a hotspot among the federal states

Update from January 12, 10:42 a.m .: There are currently significant differences between the federal states in the incidences. Thuringia (277.6), Saxony (239.5) and Saxony-Anhalt (254.4) are currently doing relatively well with values below 300. The city-states in particular, on the other hand, are at the bottom. The absolute hotspot is Bremen with an incidence of 1296.8. Berlin (856.4), Schleswig-Holstein (633.0) and Hamburg (568.9) follow. However, the number of infections is also likely to rise rapidly in the previously less affected federal states, with a time lag.

So far, the omicron wave has not been reflected in the intensive care units. The number of corona patients there has been falling continuously since mid-December, most recently to almost 3200. For comparison: at the peak of the second wave there were more than 5700. However, experts expect that with a significant increase in the number of infections, the burden in the clinics will also increase.

Corona in Germany: RKI reports new record

First report from January 12th: Berlin – In other countries it was already time, now it is Germany’s turn. Omikron causes the number of infections to increase rapidly. On Wednesday morning (January 12), the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) reported a sharp increase in the numbers and a new corona record in Germany.

The number of new infections transmitted within one day exceeded the 80,000 mark for the first time. The health authorities reported a total of 80,430 new corona infections * within 24 hours. Compared to Tuesday (January 11), the number has almost doubled (previous day: 45,690 new infections). The previous record was 65,371 new cases on November 18, 2021.

Corona in Germany: Incidence rises to over 400

According to the RKI, the nationwide seven-day incidence* is 407.5. For comparison: the day before the value was 387.9. A week ago, the nationwide incidence was 258.6 (previous month: 390.9). According to the new information, 384 deaths were also recorded across Germany within one day.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the RKI has counted a total of 7,661,811 infections with Sars-CoV-2 in Germany. The actual total number is likely to be significantly higher, as many infections go undetected. The number of people who died from or involved a proven corona infection* rose to 114,735.

Lothar Wieler, Präsident Robert Koch-Institut (RKI) nimmt an einer Pressekonferenz zur aktuellen Corona-Lage teil.

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The RKI reported a new corona record on Wednesday. (archive image)

Corona in Germany: the federal government organizes another five million Biontech cans

In order to counteract a further increase in the numbers, the Federal Ministry of Health has organized another five million doses of the Corona vaccine from Biontech for the intended acceleration of vaccinations in Germany. They should be available from the week of January 24, the ministry said on Tuesday evening.

The doses are bought from an EU contingent in Romania that currently does not need the vaccine doses. In total, around 32 million corona vaccine doses should be available in the three weeks from January 17th, January 24th and January 31st, as it was also said – twelve million from Biontech and 20 million from the agent from Moderna. This means that in the next three weeks everyone who wants it can be given a booster vaccination. The federal government had set the goal of achieving a total of another 30 million vaccinations by the end of January. (ph with dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubrics: © Bernd Von Jutrczenka/dpa

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