In the third summer of the pandemic, politicians seem to have less compass in corona politics than ever before. Opinions vary between inferno and cold wave, between lockdown and normality; and nobody really likes to decide what measures would be right at all.
Anyone who takes the train from Prague to Berlin these days will experience a peculiar moment at the Czech-German border. The people in the compartments remain unchanged and the aerosols are also the same – but suddenly the mask requirement applies again.
Until recently, a mask did not have to be worn on flights from Brussels to Portugal, but it did at Faro Airport. On the way back from Brussels to Berlin, the mask had to be worn again, but not at Berlin Airport, but again on the S-Bahn into the city.
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Anyone who contracted Corona on one of these trips will have no idea what caused it. Anyone who was able to protect themselves knows just as little why.
The set of rules will not only remain chaotic internationally this summer, but the data situation is still sparse in many areas. For the third time we are marching into a Corona autumn in which everything will probably turn out differently than expected and nobody really wants to decide what measures would be right at all.
The chaos in five chapters:
Probably the biggest variable this summer is already in the most basic of all numbers – the incidence. The current value in Germany was 679 on Tuesday. In previous waves, a high number of unreported cases and at least double the value had been assumed. But since the severity of the disease has decreased in many cases and since June 30, rapid tests are no longer available to everyone free of charge, the motivation to test has decreased significantly.
While 2.6 million tests were carried out between January 31 and February 6, there were only 915,000 in early July. A value that is many times higher than the reported incidence should therefore account for this summer wave, in which people around you feel like they are permanently infected. Only: we don’t really know.
Since the start of the campaign in Germany, 183.7 million vaccine doses have been administered. 76.2 percent of the population are basic immunized, so have received two doses. 61.8 percent also received a booster vaccination.
In the intensive care units, the relatively small part of the unvaccinated population represents a relatively large part of the patients. Among adults aged 18 to 59, the RKI counted three intensive care patients out of a total of 29 million people with booster vaccinations in June, while from the more than seven million unvaccinated also only three people ended up in the intensive care unit.
It is also a fact that vaccination protection dwindles over time, but it is difficult to say how strong it is due to the limited data available. The RKI only writes that it is clear that “several months after vaccination, the vaccines currently available can only prevent an asymptomatic infection or a mild form of Covid-19 to a limited extent.” The calculations of effectiveness could lead to “distortions ” come. In other words, vaccination effectiveness decreases. Exact numbers – none.
It is unclear whether a fourth vaccination could provide relief for the fall. The European Medicines Agency or the German Society for Immunology recommend this for those who have previously been ill and everyone over 60. One of the most important health officials, the chairman of the board of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians, Andreas Gassen, does not want to be vaccinated a fourth time.
So far, the Standing Vaccination Commission only advises everyone over the age of 70 to have the fourth vaccination. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, on the other hand, advises everyone under 60 to consider vaccination. The experts disagree. The only thing left to do for the citizen is to grope in the dark on their own responsibility.
Everything should be different this year: Early preparation, emphasized Lauterbach, is the be-all and end-all. In addition, this time corona measures should be implemented on the basis of their empirical effectiveness.
The Corona Expert Committee wanted to evaluate how effective the various protective measures are. However, according to the committee’s own statements, the results are not very meaningful. The reason: “Incomplete data” from the most important survey of the pandemic.
The current version of the Infection Protection Act expires on September 23. A new concept for the winter should be in place by the end of this month.
According to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a new vaccination campaign is planned. Sufficient vaccine doses for the latest variant and tests should be available. FDP man Buschmann warns: “The data blind flight must come to an end.” It remains a pious wish of politicians for themselves.
The Corona summer wave causes staff shortages – also in important medical areas. According to the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), 55 percent of the intensive care units in Germany have already had to reduce their services. This time it’s not because of the many patients, but because of the staff shortages.
Christian Karagiannidis, member of the Federal Government’s Corona Expert Council and scientific director of the DIVI intensive care register, says: “I have never seen so many staff shortages due to Covid as in this wave.”
The CEO of the German Hospital Society, Gerald Gaß, also says: “We are receiving reports from all federal states that individual wards and departments also have to be deregistered due to a lack of staff.”
“The problem is not the many infections, but that those who test positive stay at home for several days even without symptoms and are sent into isolation. This creates staff shortages in the clinics and elsewhere.” Now there is already a proposal not to have to go into quarantine if there are no symptoms.
He sinks into a cacophony of opinions.
Conclusion: In the third summer of the pandemic, politicians seem to have less compass in corona politics than ever before. Opinions vary between inferno and cold wave, between lockdown and normality. Citizens must decide what is right according to their own judgement. The personal responsibility of the individual takes over. It doesn’t even need a political decision.
Gabor Steingart is one of the best-known journalists in the country. He publishes the newsletter The Pioneer Briefing. The podcast of the same name is Germany’s leading daily podcast for politics and business. Since May 2020, Steingart has been working with his editorial staff on the ship “The Pioneer One”. Before founding Media Pioneer, Steingart was, among other things, CEO of the Handelsblatt Media Group. You can subscribe to his free newsletter here.
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