Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Ranga Yogeshwar doesn't believe in compulsory vaccination

In the ZDF talk, Maybrit Illner discusses with her guests whether the corona pandemic has reached a crossroads.

Frankfurt am Main – “Wave or turn”, was the motto under which Maybrit Illner discussed with her guests on Thursday evening whether the corona pandemic had now reached a crossroads. Given the mild gradients, we “wouldn’t be talking about Omicron” if everyone was ‘boosted’, said science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar at the start of the show. The question of compulsory vaccination was then also intensively discussed in the program. But first it was about a description of the situation in view of the approaching omicron wave.

The Bavarian Minister of Health, Klaus Holetschek, who was also involved, defended Bavaria’s resistant behavior in the last Prime Ministers’ Conference and clearly represented the position of Markus Söder, who spoke in a clip of “Team Caution” but also of “Team Awareness”, as which Bayern defined itself. Manuela Schwesig, who was also on board, took the opposite position, as she repeated that evening. As Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, she repeatedly experienced how citizens traveled to other federal states to circumvent the rules that applied to them. Therefore, transnational, uniform rules would be an important signal. The journalist Eva Quadbeck from the editorial network Germany condemned the Bavarian solo effort as “opposition politics”.

Maybrit Illner moderates her guests in the ZDF talk little squeamish

With a view to the approaching omicron wave, the virologist Melanie Brinkmann said that the third vaccination would help a lot, but the big problem was the unvaccinated people in Germany. Yogeshwar spoke of the “fading of the pandemic”, but said less optimistically about the unvaccinated part of the population: “The course looks different for them”. The situation in the USA, Great Britain and France also shows: “This wall that is coming.”

Illner, who often moderated her guests in this show in a less squeamish and sometimes premature manner, apparently set herself the goal of illuminating all aspects of the current pandemic situation in 65 minutes. As a result, few topics were really deepened, on the other hand, the presenter led through the evening in an unusually stringent manner and, in conversation with her guests, provided a clear inventory of the current situation.

Maybrit Illner also takes a look at Spain in the ZDF talk

This also included looking at Spain, which, according to Illner, did not decide on any further measures despite the “insane incidence”. The correspondent Anne Arend, who was briefly switched to the studio, explained that the attitude of the Spaniards was now: “The virus is hitting me anyway.” Now the main thing is to maintain the critical infrastructure, which the country is doing with the shortening of the quarantine try for seven days. The danger of severe courses is not so acute in the country because there is a very high vaccination rate.

The fact that this was achieved so easily, in contrast to Germany, is due to the shock of the first wave, which hit the country so hard. The resulting hard lockdown also put people off and made them want to avoid it happening again. According to Arend, the high level of trust in the healthcare system and the central allocation of vaccination appointments have also had a positive effect.

Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Guests consider vaccination to be the solution, not infection

The guests present agreed that vaccination was the solution and not a possible infection. Melanie Brinkmann also dispelled the myth that “natural” immunization through infection is better. “Nature is cruel,” she clarified, speaking of smallpox in the 18th century, from which every tenth Briton died at the time. That too was only brought under control by vaccination.

However, the group disagreed on questions of compulsory vaccination. Ranga Yogeshwar clearly advocated vaccination, but against the legal obligation, which could lead to a reaction of defiance. Social communication should also be improved, because anyone who is referred to as “opponents of vaccination” and then perhaps even calls themselves that, would also act accordingly. Holetschek spoke out in favor of compulsory vaccination, but shifted the responsibility for this to the federal government.

Schwesig, who in view of the mild course of the Omikron variant had spoken of the fact that one could “gently open the door”, did not want to commit to a mandatory vaccination. She defended the party colleagues Olaf Scholz and Karl Lauterbach, who had been attacked by the CSU politician for their indecisiveness, and tried to show the advantages of the planned independent ethical debate in parliament. This should provide the final decision on this issue. Eva Quadbeck sided with Holetschek in this matter and said of Scholz and Lauterbach that they were “not able to take the lead”.

Melanie Brinkmann warns at Maybrit Illner (ZDF): “It will not be the last option”

The fact that compulsory vaccination is not the answer to the coming wave, but rather a preparation for what awaits us, also became clear in the debate on compulsory vaccination. Melanie Brinkmann then warned clearly: “That won’t be the last option.” The current omicron wave can basically only be stopped by taking the same strict measures as we know from the first lockdown.

At the same time, the virologist stated: “This is not a situation that we want again.” The program looked at the possible ways out of this situation in a differentiated manner. Now it remains to be seen which ones can be implemented politically. (Jendrik Walendy)