Markus Lanz invites his favorite guest Karl Lauterbach once more. But this time the conversation on ZDF is different than usual.
Hamburg – In the last edition of the talk show with Markus Lanz on ZDF before the summer break, the season’s regular guest must of course not be missing: Karl Lauterbach, the SPD health politician for emergencies of all kinds. Lauterbach sits on the coveted chair next to Lanz and receives the privilege of first question, but the conversation is different than usual between the well-rehearsed team.
At the beginning of the lively debate at Markus Lanz (ZDF) it is about the usefulness of the corona vaccination for children and adolescents and the related political communication. Lauterbach presents with a warning and points out that an entire generation is running the risk of being infected with the “not harmless Delta variant.”
Markus Lanz (ZDF) wants to know more about it from Karl Lauterbach
There it is, the specter of the contamination, a horror from the wording alone. What’s missing: A clear, fact-based explanation of why Delta should be more dangerous for children. “Could be more dangerous” is obviously sufficient for the adoption of various measures.
Markus Lanz wants to know more precisely and refers to the contradiction between the Stiko recommendation, which so far only recommends child vaccination for relevant pre-existing diseases, and the policy, which specifically sells this vaccination. The ethicist Christiane Woopen takes up the question and shoots why politicians suddenly know better than science. Lauterbach explains it in such a way that politics “cheated on science-based matters” and this time listened to other scientists. And because twice as good holds up, the SPDler adds that the Delta variant is more dangerous for children and young people than “Alpha or even the wild type”.
Markus Lanz is not interested in the Delta variant in this ZDF broadcast
But Delta is not interested in Lanz in this program, he is concerned with the “catastrophic impression” that the federal government’s corona policy is giving rise to. Namely, the fact that the politicians choose the scientists who suit them right now – this also applies to the third Covid vaccination, which is already considered sensible by politicians, although the Stiko has not yet positioned itself.
| Surname | profession |
| Karl Lauterbach | SPD health politician |
| Prof. Christiane Woopen | Ethicist |
| Marco Wanderwitz | Eastern Commissioner of the Federal Government |
| Lukas Rietzschel | author |
Karl Lauterbach then explains to Markus Lanz that politicians have their own scientists who advise them. Jens Spahn has a “team of experts” that “partially overlaps with the people who advised Angela Merkel” – whoever that is supposed to be. Lauterbach is also certain that the Stiko will soon be “in full bloom” again (Lanz: “Who will judge that?”). Woopen then raises a key question: “What should the children actually be protected from?”
Younger people would hardly have to reckon with severe courses, and no vaccine is available for children under the age of 12 anyway. Rather, politicians owe the parents an answer or perspective on how the autumn school operations should run in concrete terms. Markus Lanz also points out on ZDF that the children have “in truth an incredibly low risk” of severe Covid disease courses. Lauterbach sees it differently and urges caution in making this assessment.
Markus Lanz wants to talk about the “chaos” in Corona politics
Markus Lanz is still not interested in Delta and sticks to the “communicative chaos” of Corona politics. The author Lukas Rietzschel reports, as it were, as the voice of the people, that he is “incredibly tired” of following the corona discussion. Rietzschel is disappointed with the political communication, mask affairs and other enrichment, and raises the question of whether the promotion of the vaccination debates might be a test balloon to scout out the reactions of the population.
Marco Wanderwitz, the federal government’s Eastern Commissioner, has the usual phrase ready that there was no blueprint for politics. Lanz stays tuned: Of course, tough political statements about vaccination and the Corona handling in autumn should test reactions, says the moderator: “We don’t have to tell any fairy tales here.”
Markus Lanz (ZDF): Karl Lauterbach thinks Heiko Maas is “great”
When asked about the much discussed statement by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas that the measures should end as soon as all adults have a vaccination offer, Lauterbach knows: “Heiko is great” – but he does not share his assessment. One must continue to be careful and “of course make differences between unvaccinated and vaccinated people in the autumn.”
Markus Lanz asks what “other rules” should mean in concrete terms, Lauterbach explains aside from the question that the risk for non-vaccinated people in the club is “super high”. Lanz unmasked the non-answer (“That’s banal, that’s a rush”) and wants to find out how the entry for unvaccinated people in restaurants and the like should work, why the health check by test should not remain an option. “Should the vaccinated pay the test of the unvaccinated?” Polemics Lauterbach. Lanz counters whether only the rich can then afford not to vaccinate. The ethicist Woopen feels that the “discrimination that is being introduced here” is unnecessary, and afterwards throws: “Those who have recovered are not treated properly either.” A nice back and forth.
Markus Lanz makes a short detour at the end of the ZDF broadcast
Finally, the program makes a detour to the east, as there is an east / west divide in readiness for vaccination (north / south as well, by the way). In contrast to the previously critical statements, the unvaccinated people are now attacked from behind. The calculation goes like this: In the East, a lot of AfD is elected, that is, “right-wing extremist” and “undemocratic” (Wanderwitz), which in turn means that people who have not been vaccinated are increasingly right-wing extremists.
Classics such as the “experience of change” (Wanderwitz) after 1989 or the “disappointed experience of democracy” (Lauterbach) of those who were hit by the dictatorship serve as an explanation for the lesser willingness to vaccinate in East Germany. The gain in knowledge of the last third is limited, but the beginning of this last Lanz show before the summer break is worth seeing because Lanz is now asking his pandemic tandem Lauterbach very differently – it’s just a shame that he still gets the same answers. (Christian Horn)
